


We Found Love Right Where We Are

by BiggerTinySword



Series: To Infinity and Beyond [2]
Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: All Tags from Previous Fic Apply, Alternate Universe - No Monsters, Angst, Canon Lesbian Relationship, Curse and Revenants are still real tho, Domestic Wayhaught, F/F, First Chapter starts out with a bang, Fluff, Kid Fic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Smut, Teacher!waverly, WayHaught's attempt at parenting, Wynaught Brotp, You probably wanna read the first fic first, haha get it?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:34:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 107,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25702900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BiggerTinySword/pseuds/BiggerTinySword
Summary: "Cole?" Waverly said softly."Hmm?" Nicole mumbled, shifting slightly behind her."Can I ask you something?""Yeah, what?" she questioned. Waverly stayed quiet as she swallowed down the nausea creeping up on her, and Nicole pressed her hand against her hip, getting her to flip over to face her. She brushed the hair out of her face, tipping her head up to get her to meet her eyes. "You can ask me whatever it is, Baby."Waverly relaxed against her touch when she gently cupped her jaw, flicking her gaze away for a moment before raising her eyes again to look at her.She saw that Nicole was staring down at her with nothing but assurance, and it was then that she realized that whatever happened, whenever anything happened, all she wanted was for Nicole to be right by her side. She could get through anything with her, so there was no reason to be afraid.Waverly pulled her tongue away from her lip, giving her a tiny smile. ". . . D'you wanna have a baby?"WayHaught's journey to and through parenthood isn't an easy one, but when they fight every battle right beside one another, that's all they need to get through it . . . most of the time.
Relationships: Nicole Haught & Wynonna Earp, Waverly Earp & Wynonna Earp, Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught
Series: To Infinity and Beyond [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1863937
Comments: 409
Kudos: 657





	1. Do You Wanna Have a Baby?

**Author's Note:**

> Why, hello there! Welcome to YAMHP's baby, We Found Love Right Where We Are. 
> 
> I know I said I wasn't posting this yet, but I got excited (sorry AJ), so it's here now. Lucky you guys!  
> I'm still thinking out how fast or slow this fic is gonna go, but I'm pretty sure I've got it down for the most part. Definitely don't expect a YAMHP pace, but don't expect this to be just 10 chapters either. And to help y'all understand the timeline, this fic has timestamps! Yay! (They're mostly for me to keep track of everything ngl 😂)
> 
> Like I said in the tags, it'll probably be most helpful to have read the previous fic to this series (And if you're new, HELLO THERE, I'M QUEEF!). A lot of things will be brought back, and BECAUSE of that, sometimes I'll be dropping YAMHP chapter numbers in the notes that y'all should read over again to keep your memories fresh. If you DON'T wanna read almost half a million words, just read the last chapter. It's the epilogue and is basically the first chap to this fic :)
> 
> I'm really excited for this fic. I've got a lot of cool adventures for the gang brewing up in my head, so all I can say is buckle up.
> 
> As for this first chapter, y'all finally get to hear Nicole's answer which I'm sure is pretty obvious since this is a KidFic, but still. They start the engine and pull out onto the road to parenthood here, so, like I said, buckle up.  
> It'll be a bumpy ride
> 
> AND CAUSE I WANT TO START THIS CHAP OFF QUEEF STYLE, Y'ALL GET A NICE SURPRISE WITHIN THIS CHAPTER! HAVE AT IT AND ENJOYYYYY! <3

**Monday, August 3rd, 2020 11:15 PM**

Nicole stared at Waverly in shock for a couple of seconds, her eyes getting wider and wider as each passed. She blinked hard, wiggling her head around. "S-Say that again?" 

"Do you wanna have a baby?" Waverly repeated, though she knew she had heard her. 

Nicole swallowed roughly and let out a wobbly breath, "One more time?" 

The brunette dipped her head, looking back up at her and bringing her hand to her cheek. "Do you wanna have a baby? A child. With me. Our baby. Our own Alice." 

Nicole flipped to her back and sat up, flicking the lamp beside her on. Waverly sat up, pulling her knees up as she met her eyes. Her features went soft when she saw the tears bordering Nicole's eyes and she grabbed her hand, running her thumb over it. "A-Are you _serious?"_ Nicole questioned. 

"I'm dead serious, Nic." 

"Are you sure?" She asked in a whisper. 

Waverly nodded. _"Yes,_ Baby. I've been thinking about this for _well_ over a month now." 

"So it's not just cause we met Auggie today?" 

"No . . . This is what Jessie and I ran off to the bathroom to talk about," she mumbled with a little laugh. 

The redhead let out a raspberry, rubbing her hands on her face for a few seconds. "Jesus-" She lifted her head and a tear rolled down her cheek as she smiled at her. "You really wanna have a baby?"

"Yes," Waverly answered gently, reaching out and wiping the tear, feeling her own throat tightening.

"When?" Nicole mumbled. 

"Uh, as soon as we can," she said with an airy chuckle. 

"Really?" Nicole asked softly, a few more tears slowly rolling down her face. 

"Yea, Baby," Waverly mumbled through a voice crack. Nicole closed her eyes and leaned forward, wrapping her in a hug that knocked them sideways. The brunette pressed her face into her shoulder as she hugged her around her middle. 

The brunette raised her head after a few minutes, letting out a teary laugh as she wiped Nicole's face off. "I didn't mean to make you cry." 

"You didn't think I would?" Nicole huffed.

"No," she mumbled, wiping under her eyes again. "I'm glad you're in agreement, though." 

"Of _course_ I am. I've been waiting since we got _married_ ," she grumbled, though there was a smile on her lips. 

"We just . . . had a lot going on. And I wanted to find the right time." 

"And the time is now?"

"I've just got that feeling, ya know?" 

"Oh, I'm familiar with it," Nicole said with a smile. She swallowed after a second, furrowing her brow. "So, like . . . how are we goin' about doing this?" 

"I . . . I've been looking into stuff, so we don't have to do that cause I already did." 

Nicole raised an interested brow. "What kind of _stuff?"_

"Like . . . the different ways we could do it?" 

Nicole nodded, chewing her cheek. ". . . And what d'you wanna do?" 

Waverly dipped her head, but the Sheriff tipped it right back up. She flicked her eyes around before landing on her face. ". . . I wouldn't mind being pregnant." 

A new wave of emotions crashed over Nicole's body, and Waverly’s chest went tight as her brow loosened and her eyes went soft. "You wanna _actually have_ our baby?" 

"I mean, if that's something you'd wa-"

"Of _course_ that's what I want," she assured, looking upward to push the tears back in her eyes. "But only if you're fine with it cause that's _a lot."_

"I know," Waverly mumbled. "I think that'd be our best bet for . . . for the first one, at least." 

"Oh my God, are we gonna have a basketball team of kids?" 

_"No,"_ Waverly answered quickly with a laugh. "I want as many that can _fit_ in this house cause I am _not_ moving _or_ pushing a bajillion kids out."

Nicole chuckled, leaning into a soft kiss. "I don't want a lot anyways." 

Waverly lifted her head, allowing Nicole to slip her arm under it so she could lean the side of it against her bicep. "Good." 

Nicole smiled, running a hand through her hair. "So . . . _how_ do we wanna get you knocked up?" 

"Oh my God," she laughed, smacking her arm. Nicole snorted, grabbing her hand and pressing a kiss to it. "I _think_ our best bet is at-home insemination. The all-natural way, too, since I don't have fertility problems that I know of." 

"Like, you're gonna . . ." Nicole made a gesture of her shooting something in a syringe into a hole. 

"No, _you're_ gonna," she corrected. 

_"Me?-_ Holy _shit,_ I could get you pregnant?!" 

"Yea, technically," Waverly chuckled, running her thumb across her cheekbone. "So . . . _If_ I were to tell you I found a sperm donor we could maybe use, would you be mad?" 

Nicole raised her brows. "How'd you do that?" 

"There's a search thingy online, and I got bored . . ." 

Nicole chuckled, pressing a kiss to the corner of her mouth before rolling and pulling her to lay on her chest. "What's Mr. Sperm's details?" 

"Well . . . He's a redhead with brown eyes. 6'2." 

"Oo, gotta have them tall genes," the Sheriff smirked. "Continue." 

"He's Irish _and_ German." 

"Are we sure I'm not related to this dude?" She questioned with a chuckle. 

"He's from _Montana,_ so probably not." 

"Fair enough," Nicole mumbled. 

"It says he’s working on a law degree _,_ but is a security officer right now and was in the Army. He played _baseball_ and ran track in high school." 

"Blech, _track,"_ Nicole muttered. 

"Shh- He's family-oriented and funny, but has a temper." 

"Meh, so do I," Nicole grinned. "Sounds like we found our guy. He's, like, basically me kinda." 

"You understand if I have a ginger baby, I _will_ cry, right?" 

"Good cry or put it up for adoption cry?" 

_"Nicole!"_ She scolded, smacking her shoulder. " _Good_ cry, God." 

"Ok, good," the redhead laughed. They were both quiet for a few seconds before she cleared her throat. "So, uh . . . What now?" 

Waverly rolled off of her, scooting back up the bed. "Now we go to sleep," she answered with a smile as she crawled under the covers. "We can sit down and look into it after I get home tomorrow." 

"Yea?" Nicole asked as she moved up next to her and flipped the lamp on the nightstand off. "We're really doing this?" 

Waverly beamed as she slid closer to her, leaning her head on her shoulder and dropping her arm around her middle when she laid down. "Hell yea, we are." 

"Are we telling anyone?" Nicole questioned. 

"Not a _soul,"_ the brunette grinned, tugging her face down to press a goodnight kiss to her lips before settling. 

The redhead hummed as she closed her eyes, sliding her hand up and down her back. _"Perfect."_

**Tuesday, August 4th, 2020 3:43 PM**

Waverly pushed their front door open, stepping inside. "I'm ho-" Her eyes caught the sight of her wife sleeping on the couch with the cats piled in the space between her legs. She smiled softly, walking into the house and setting her bag on the counter in the kitchen before moving over to her and pressing a kiss to the side of her forehead. 

Nicole let out a sleepy slur and her eyes opened, a tired smile on her face as she gently grabbed at her wrist. "Wave." 

"Shh, go back to sleep. I didn't mean to wake you up." 

The Sheriff let out a soft sigh, tracing her eyes down her body. "'Look pretty t'day," she mumbled. 

Waverly blushed with a shake of her head, looking down at her black shirt and black jeans that she had thrown a grey blazer over, having slapped her black Vans on her feet and called it a day. "You look . . ." She flicked her eyes across her abs that were on display since she just had a faded maroon jacket unzipped over her sports bra, the light tan joggers she had on settling low on her hips. _"Comfortable."_

"I went on a run 'n was tired when I got back," Nicole said as she sat up some, rubbing her eyes. 

"You went on a run like _that?"_ Waverly questioned. 

She furrowed her brow at her. "Yea, why?" 

"Well, you should’ve waited until I got home so I could drive along beside you and watch,” she smirked, slipping the blazer off and setting it on the table before sitting down next to her. Nicole chuckled, leaning forward into her and slowly knocking her back as she kissed her. Waverly grinned as she cupped her cheek with one hand, the other splayed out under her jacket against her lower back. She slipped it up and ran her nails down her back, immediately feeling her press her hips down into her. 

“Mrs. Haught,” Nicole drawled. “I _do_ believe we had plans for after you got off work that _certainly_ were not this.” 

Waverly sighed, smiling as she leaned her head back against the couch cushion. “We did.” The redhead chuckled, pushing off of her and pulling her legs criss-cross as she sat up in front of her. Waverly leaned towards the table and grabbed her laptop, looking down at Nicole as she stood and holding her hand out. “C’mon.” 

“Where?” Nicole questioned, grabbing her hand and pushing off the couch. 

“Uh, our room? I’ve been on my feet all day, I wanna lay down.” 

The Sheriff followed behind her, dropping on the bed and grabbing the laptop when she set it down, scooting towards her side of the bed and leaning back against the pillows. She opened it and logged onto it, looking up for a second to see the brunette was trading her jeans out for some sweatpants. Waverly settled next to her, pulling her laptop out of her hands with a huff when she saw Nicole had disconnected the internet so she could play the dinosaur game on Google. “Are you five?”

“Yes,” she confirmed with a nod. 

Waverly rolled her eyes, scooting over to the space in between her legs and leaning back against her chest, turning the internet back on once she set her laptop on her lap. “Ok . . .”

“You’re the one that’s been researching all of this. I don’t know what’s going on.” Waverly looked back at her with a knowing raise of her brows. Nicole pursed her lips, looping her arms around her middle and resting her chin on her shoulder. “Fine, I looked it up at work.” 

“Thought so,” Waverly smirked, directing herself to the cryobank’s website that she had previously been using. “So right now, there isn’t much to see on the site for donor info, but there’s like a membership you can buy to-” 

“Ok, get it then,” Nicole interrupted, digging her wallet out of her pocket and tossing it onto the keyboard. She gave her a squeeze as she pressed a kiss to Waverly’s head. “We’re really doing this, so we mise well go all in. And I know you and I know you’ve picked out the _best_ sperm bank for us to use.” 

Waverly let out a breath. “Ok.” She pulled her card out of her wallet and got to filling out the information, clicking the final enter button and smiling when the page opened up, full of a bunch of new information. “And there we go.” 

“Alright, let’s look at the donor dude you were talking about. I wanna see if he’s cute enough to make my baby.” 

Waverly giggled, shaking her head as she clicked around for a few seconds before finding him and pulling him up. “Here’s Luke.” 

“Luke . . .” Nicole said slowly, reaching for the touchpad and clicking on the baby picture. _“Awe.”_ Her mouth curved into a grin right as she saw the red hair on the toddler’s head with a huge dimpled grin. _“Dimples, ginger, brown eyes, baseball, security officer._ This dude’s basically me.” 

“I know!” She grinned. “Ok, wait, let’s look into his full file to make sure he doesn’t have anything we _don’t_ want.”

“M’kay,” Nicole sighed, relaxing back into the bed. 

They spent the next 20 minutes looking through his personal and genetic files, the only things alarming them some was that Luke’s father _and_ oldest brother were alcoholics which made Waverly a little uneasy, but Nicole, of course, said it was fine that way considering her father was an alcoholic as well. There were also a few members of his close family that had developed melanoma, but Nicole shrugged it off once again, blaming it on the gingerness. Nicole was mostly groaning about how Luke himself and both of his two siblings had bad acne apparently, but Waverly didn’t care about that too much. 

They got through his file and sat in quiet a few seconds as they both _really_ thought about what they were looking at. 

A page for a sperm donor.

For _their_ future child. 

“. . . Are you 100% set on doing this, Wave?” Nicole asked softly. 

“Of course,” she assured, tipping her head back to look at her. “Are you?” 

“Yea,” she mumbled. “It’s just . . . This is a big deal. A big life-changing decision. A big investment. A big . . . possible set up for a _shitton_ of disappointment.”

Waverly squeezed her hands that were still wrapped around her body. “I know, Baby. But . . . I wanna take all the risks. The risk that I _will_ get pregnant first try. The risk that it might take a few tries. The risk that I might not get pregnant at _all_ and we’ll either have to try something new or start looking into adoption. Or even the risk that if I _do_ get pregnant, anything can happen.” 

Nicole let out a sigh with a tiny smile. “I wanna take all the risks, too.” 

“Yea?” 

“I married you knowing we’d wanna start a family someday. And . . . I guess today is the start of someday, aye?” 

Waverly let out a breathy chuckle, “I guess it is.” 

The redhead smiled softly, leaning down to press a kiss to her lips. “. . . Now what?” 

“Now . . . I’m gonna schedule myself an appointment with my gyno to go over everything with her and get her to sign off on it. I'll also probably call them, too.” She pointed to the cryobank's name on the screen. "Just to make sure we're in the know of everything." 

“What about tracking your cycle and stuff?” Nicole questioned. 

Waverly pulled her phone out of her pocket. “I mean, I’ve been using a period app thingy for the past couple years, so technically I’m good there.”

“Yea?” Nicole asked with a smile. “When’re you ovulating or whatever next?” 

“Uhh . . .” Waverly opened the app and clicked around for a few seconds. “According to _this . . ._ in three days. I'll get some tests, though.” 

“So this all could be happening by this time next month?” Nicole asked with wide eyes. 

Waverly spun the ring on Nicole’s finger that she was holding onto, swallowing a little as she looked down at her phone. “I . . . I guess so, yea.” 

Nicole let out a happy giggle, pressing a bunch of kisses to the side of her face. “I can’t _wait!”_

**Saturday, August 8th, 2020 1:52 PM**

Nicole hit send on her email report and leaned back in her chair, looking over when her phone buzzed on her desk. She reached for it and tilted the screen towards her, a huge smile pushing onto her face. 

**Wifey 🌊 ❤️: Just finished at gyno. She gave it the go-ahead**

**❤️ 💙 Nic ❤️ 💙: OPERATION HAUGHT POCKET IS A GO**

**Wifey 🌊 ❤️: Lmao r u really sticking with that?**

**❤️ 💙 Nic ❤️ 💙: Duh**

**Wifey 🌊 ❤️: Ok, Wynonna**

**Wifey 🌊 ❤️: U mind if I come hang out w u for a little while? I miss u**

**❤️ 💙 Nic ❤️ 💙: Not at all**

**❤️ 💙 Nic ❤️ 💙: I miss u too**

**Wifey 🌊❤️: Ok, I’ll be there in 20 😘**

**❤️ 💙 Nic ❤️ 💙: See you then 😘😘**

Waverly had gone to her doctor’s appointment that morning after Nicole had gone off for work, and the redhead had _hoped_ that she _would_ decide to stop by afterwards . . . because the outfit that woman had put together for herself had her _weak in the knees_. 

Whether it be the tall black boots, or the flowy mid-thigh red skirt, or even the loose black shirt with roses all over it, she was all there for it. So _much_ there for it that she had done some preparing. 

Now knowing that her wife was on her way, she slowly moved her hand off the armrest to the front of her pants, sliding her hand up the _at the moment_ well-concealed bulge tucked up into her waistband. She had opted for the more _flexible_ out of the two they owned, for the blue, though preferred, was far harder to be concealed. And she would be lying if she said that she hadn’t bought the newer one for the _sole_ purpose of this type of situation that she had dreamt of _far_ too many times to be healthy. 

She kept one eye on the door as she pulled up on her belt and pushed the toy down from being pinned in the band of her briefs, repositioning the shaft so it was now pointing down the left side of her leg. And considering she had also opted for her tightest pair of work pants today, it was _indeed_ visible. She let out a proud huff at herself, scooting her chair back in and picking up a pen, deciding she might as well try and get something done while she waited. 

20 minutes later on the dot, her head rose at the sound of heels tapping the floor. She smiled, filing away her papers when Waverly appeared at her doorway. “Hey, Baby.” 

“Hey.” The brunette walked in and closed the door behind her, much like she always did.

Nicole glanced down at herself before pushing herself up and walking around her desk, leaning back on it with a cross of her arms. “How’d it all go?” 

“Good,” she nodded with a relieved sigh, taking her purse off her shoulder and hanging it on the coat rack in the corner of the room before turning back towards her. “She basically explained everything to me a whole lot better than any of those videos we watched did, so I think we’re good to go.” She walked towards her. “But now I’m just happy to see you-” The redhead tried to keep a smirk down as she watched the way Waverly’s eyes traced across her pants when she stopped dead in her tracks halfway to her. The brunette slowly looked back up to meet her eyes, and Nicole raised her brows obliviously in question. Waverly immediately caught onto her game and continued to further close the gap between them. “Well, I guess _someone’s_ happy to see me, too,” she muttered, touching her front to her’s and reaching down between them to grip the toy. 

Nicole let out a small hum, finally letting the smirk appear as she felt her press it into her with every slow stroke. “I guess I am.” She gripped her wife’s hips roughly, and the brunette tipped her head up, tugging her down by the tie into a searing kiss. Waverly let out a heavy breath, feeling how Nicole was pushing her hips into her hand to encourage her motions. And she, of course, complied. Waverly leaned into her, pushing her back farther onto the desk as she wrapped as much of her hand around it over the fabric she could, moving it up and down the length, wiggling it around slightly as she pushed it back. 

The Sheriff slid one of her hands from her hip to her ass with a strong grip, hitching the skirt to get to her bare skin. She dug her fingers into it with bruising force at the way a zap shot to her core suddenly, moaning into her mouth and throwing her head back. 

Waverly moved her lips to her neck when she did so, abandoning her stroking as she started sucking on a spot above her collar she knew she had put makeup on her this morning to hide something she had left behind days prior. The redhead let out a cursed breath, bucking into her front as her eyes rolled back. “Just _tryna_ kill me today, ain’t ya, Darlin’?” She drawled out, meeting her eyes with blown pupils after a few seconds. 

“Oh, you just wait, Baby,” Waverly grinned, untucking her shirt and running a hand up her abs. 

Nicole let out a growl from deep within her chest, pulling her hand out and shoving her back, walking around to her chair and dropping down onto it. She didn’t even get a word out before the smaller girl was making herself busy straddling her lap and tipping her head up into a kiss with her hands on both sides of Nicole’s neck. The Sheriff sighed into it, meeting her tongue with her own as she slid her hands down her body to feel every last curve she had. She pulled the back of the skirt up with one hand and drew a loud smack across her ass with the other. Waverly let out a high-pitched whine, hips beginning to grind into the bulge to ease some of the fire that shot to her core. “D’you like that, Baby?” 

“ _Yes_ ,” Waverly moaned into her mouth. 

“Huh?” She pushed her back from her lips and grabbed onto the front of her low-neck shirt, pulling it down to pop her bust out, only hearing a _couple_ of threads rip in the process. She tugged each cup of her bra down. “D’you want me to do it again?” She didn’t give her time to answer before she _did_ do it again. 

“ _Fuck_ , Nic,” she whimpered, body falling forward like the redhead had hoped. Nicole moved her hands to her waist to keep her at that angle, sucking the nipple that was right in front of her face into her mouth. Waverly bit the inside of her cheek to keep the noise that _wanted_ to come out from it, for she was trying to keep reminding herself that they were in a building filled with other people. She pushed her hands into the redhead’s hair, fingers digging into her scalp as she felt her teeth nip at the other bud.

Nicole’s eyes squeezed closed, her fingers pushing into her the squishy flesh on her hips at the jolt to her abdomen she got from the feeling of her nails. She pulled from her breast, meeting her lust-dripping eyes. “Knees. _Now .”_

Waverly pushed off her lap, dropping to the floor in front of her and gripping onto her belt buckle, biting her lip as she met her eyes and undid _just_ the zipper of her pants. Nicole raised an interested eyebrow at the choice as she slipped the grey toy out of the hole. She traced the tip of her tongue from the base to the head with a smirk, slowly pushing herself to her feet and spinning around. Although she wasn’t doing as she was told, Nicole watched in wonder, eyes widening as she looked back at her and rolled her bottom lip down playfully with her pointer finger, draping herself over her desk and giving her butt a tempting wiggle. “Are you _sure_ you want me to work you up anymore, Sheriff? I _know_ you’d prefer to just take me bent over your desk, wouldn’t you?” Her voice came out as _sweet_ as cotton candy.

And. 

Welp. 

That did it. 

Nicole shot up to her feet with fire in her eyes and hiked her skirt up, reaching up and ripping her underwear down. She leaned over her back and grabbed onto a handful of hair, tugging her head back as she shoved two fingers into her mouth. “You want me to _take you_ , huh?” The brunette simply continued to coat her fingers, spinning her tongue around them to get them wet as she tried to rock back into her. “Yea, Pretty Girl, I’ll take you, alright.” Nicole pulled her fingers out of her mouth and stood up straight, slowly tracing them up and down her folds. “Over. And over. And over. And _over._ ” She forced them both into her entrance, ripping the air out of Waverly’s lungs. Nicole turned her hand palm up before teasing it in and out _painfully slow_ a few times. “Is that good, Baby?” She muttered in that rumbly voice she got when she was in control that the brunette _never_ got tired of

“ _Oh my God_ , just fuck me,” she begged, looking behind her to meet her eyes with a pleading stare. 

“Oh, so you can tease me, but I can’t tease you? That doesn’t sound _fair_ to me.” Nicole jammed her fingers into her with a testing tip of her head. 

Waverly clapped her hand over her mouth, gripping the front edge of the desk. “It’s not. I’m sorry.”

“No . . . It’s not. Are you gonna make it up to me?” She pulled her fingers out and rolled over her clit with tight circles. 

The brunette pulled her lip into her mouth with a quick nod. “Yes. Baby, I will.” 

“How’re you gonna do that?” 

“You can fuck me as _hard_ as you want for as _long_ as you want. I promise.” 

Nicole’s eyes widened and an approving smirk pushed onto her face. Although she had gotten soundproof windows put in the year before in her office and BBD because of the subject matter that was often discussed in them, considering _their_ activities, they still might have needed to be a _little_ quiet if she were to do just that. “Yea?” She spit onto her hand and coated the toy, leaning forward to be by her ear as she lined herself up. “Sweetheart, that’s a _very_ bad decision.” She snapped her hips forward with so much force that a couple of things on her desk fell over.

Waverly practically screamed into her hand, though it only sounded like a whimper to the redhead. And that was _music to her ears_. She started with a slow, but rough rhythm, and the sounds of her thighs coming in contact with her ass was basically deadened by her pant legs. Nicole rolled up the bottom of her shirt to keep it out of the way, gripping Waverly’s opposite hip with her free hand as she licked her lips, quickening the pace. 

The brunette looked back at her, eyes fluttering shut from the mixture of seeing her abs flexing with every stroke and the tightness on her flushed face. “ _Fuck_ ,” Nicole groaned, reaching up and loosening the tie around her neck before letting her hand drop as she bit onto the bottom of her uniform shirt to keep it there. She moved both hands to Waverly’s hips, pulling her back into her in time with her thrusts. 

_“More,”_ Waverly moaned, letting her head drop in between her shoulders. 

Nicole leaned forward slightly and squeezed her hand into one of her breasts as she put more of her weight behind her motions, speeding it up as well. “I can’t do much more, Babe. We don’t want the whole town to hear us,” she said through the fabric in her mouth. Although they themselves weren’t making much noise, the sound of everything shaking on her desk sure was. 

Waverly let out a huff, though _really_ , how could she be mad about her situation? “Just-” She bit back a moan as the redhead stood back completely upright and reached around to give her clit some attention. “ _Shit_ , just don’t stop.” 

She pushed a wad of hair out of her face, mouth coming open with some sharp intakes of breath as she felt her core begin to tighten rapidly. “ _God_ , Wave.” She pulled her back into her with more force to try and stop the rattling on her desk some as she pounded into her. 

“DOLLS, I’M GOIN’ ON BREAK TO TALK TO HAUGHT POTATO!” 

Both of their heads snapped towards the door, hearing the shout from the pit somewhere. Waverly pushed her hand back to stop her movements as she looked back at her with bugged eyes. “What the _hell_ do we do!?” She whisper-shouted, hearing Wynonna's boots approaching.

“ _I’m gonna shoot her_ ,” the redhead growled as she grabbed her rolly chair and pulled it under her butt, dropping down onto it and pulling Waverly down onto her lap with her arm looped around her front. Waverly let out a whimper as the length stayed buried in her, and she quickly fixed her bra and shirt as Nicole rolled the chair forward and flicked open a file that had been sitting on the corner of her desk. She pulled it in front of her with a clear of her throat and a fix of her tie, picking up a pen _just_ as the door swung open.

“Haughty!” Wynonna greeted with a grin. “And other Haughty! How are we today?” She dropped down into the chair in front of her desk, kicking her legs up on it. 

“We’re great, Wynonna,” Waverly mumbled, keeping her face even as Nicole shifted slightly under her to resituate. She laced her fingers through the redhead’s that was resting low on her hip, giving it a warning squeeze. “We were having some, uh, _alone time_ , but you’re _kinda_ interrupting that.” 

“ _Kinda,_ as in, you _definitely_ are,” Nicole added with a pointed look. 

“You dorks’ version of _alone time_ is having Waves perched on your lap while you work?” She asked with a bored raise of her brow. “The married life sounds _real_ _fun_ , yea.” 

The brunette let out a soft clearing of her throat to keep a smirk down as she looked back at the redhead, pushing her hand through her hair to calm it down a bit. “I thought we were having a great time, didn’t you?” She rolled her hips in a way that was only noticeable to Nicole, watching the way her jaw tightened as she gripped her hip tighter. 

“I was having an _amazing_ time, Baby,” she confirmed, smiling when she leaned into a quick kiss before looking back at the older Earp. Nicole wrapped her arm back around her front as she lifted her hips up to slide forward in the chair some, holding Waverly up for a second before letting her drop back down. She bit into the sides of her cheeks and hoped the breath she let out wasn’t telling, reaching down and pinching her thigh. “ _Ow_.” 

Wynonna furrowed her brow at the two. She was _completely_ oblivious to the situation, but she was still aware that there was _something_ that she was missing. “Are y’all good?” 

“Oh, I’m great,” Nicole assured. 

“Me, too,” Waverly agreed as the redhead wrapped her arms around her middle with a kiss to the back of her shoulder. “Though, I was better _before_ you were in here bothering us.”

 _“Also_ true,” Nicole nodded, raising her brows in attempt to try and tell her to get out, but she obviously wasn’t reading _anything_ right. 

“What, you don’t want to hang out with me?” She huffed in question.

“ _No_ ,” they both groaned. Wynonna threw her arms out in offense.

“Nonna, _please,_ go bother someone else.” 

“I’ve been hanging out with my _sister-in-law_ more than my wife lately, Wy. Just cut us some slack today. Please?” Nicole put on some pleading eyes, watching as her face softened slightly. 

The older brunette let out a sigh, pulling her feet off the desk and pushing herself to stand. “ _Fine,_ but I’m making you hang out with me tomorrow, Babygirl. It’s my day off.” 

Waverly rolled her eyes with a nod as she moved towards the door. “Ok. Now go. And don’t come back cause I’m not promising it will stay family-friendly in here.”

Wynonna’s face scrunched up. “Aw, _gross_.”

Nicole let out a snort. “Dude, do you know _how_ many times we’ve screwed in here before?” 

She quickly pulled the door open, stepping out. “Ok, I’m leaving! Bye!” 

The couple let out a joint sigh, relaxing into one another. “ _Jeez_ ,” Waverly grumbled. 

“I swear she has a sixth sense that she doesn’t know about cause, honestly, this shit is getting out of hand,” Nicole said with an annoyed shake of her head. 

The brunette slowly stood up, only to turn around and climb back onto her lap, standing up with her knees on either side of her legs as she lowered herself back down with a shudder, looping her arms around Nicole’s neck. It was a smidge of a tight fit, but it was a pretty wide chair since Nedley _needed_ his butt room when it was his, so it worked rather perfectly. “How about we forget about my annoying sister, and, uh . . .” She pushed her hands through Nicole’s hair as she began to grind slowly into her lap. “Get back to where we left off?” 

Nicole smirked, running her hands down her back to her ass, fisting the fabric as she leaned her head back to rest on the headrest. “I think that’s a _wonderful_ idea.” 

Waverly giggled, cupping her face and leaning down to catch her lips as she sped the rock of her hips. Nicole let out a moan, but the brunette swallowed it, balling a handful of her hair up in her fist. 

The Sheriff slid her hands up her shirt and across her back after a few minutes, leaving burning hot trails from the heat they were radiating as they went. Her head rolled even farther back and Waverly followed it with a groan, beginning to jerk her pelvis up into her stomach as she pulled her bottom lip out with her teeth, releasing it and sitting back as she went to start bouncing.

But Nicole gripped the back of her neck and pulled her back in. “Mmnm, keep doing that,” she husked out, coaxing her ass forward with her free hand. Waverly began the thrusting again and the redhead let out a growl as she pushed her tongue in her mouth, knowing that could _easily_ flip her over the edge. “You close, Baby?” She breathed out, tucking some of her hair behind her ears as she kissed down her neck. 

Waverly squeezed her fingers into her shoulders with a heavy breath. “Getting there.” 

Nicole flicked her eyes up to her face, noticing right away that she was _much_ closer than the brunette _probably_ considering that she has been waiting for this all day. Nicole moved her hands to Waverly’s waist and sat them both up, dragging her legs out from being bent under her and hooking them around her hips before standing to her feet and repositioning her in her arms, sliding her hands under the brunette’s thighs. 

_“ Shit_ _,”_ Waverly gasped as she was pushed up against the wall. Nicole leaned her body into her to help pin her there as she began to pump into her, nipping along her jaw. _“_ __Oh_ my God _ _.”_ She tightened her grip around Nicole's shoulders to help hold herself up, tossing her head back against the wall. 

“You just _love_ to be fucked against the wall, don’t you?” She muttered near her ear as she was hoisted up a bit before being pummeled even harder. 

“ _Nic_ -” She pushed her face into her shoulder to quiet a loud moan, squeezing her legs tighter around her hips. “ _Always,_ Baby.” Nicole let out a low hum, nipping at her chin when she lifted her head again before sloppily meeting her lips. 

Waverly’s body quivered as she felt the length slip out of her. The redhead let out a small huff, pausing her movements and pulling her head back as she righted it, raising her eyes to her as she slowly pushed it back in, getting back to her pace after several seconds. She tipped her head up as the brunette met her lips hungrily. 

It was only a moment later that Waverly pulled away from said lips, looking down after it slipped out again. “ _God dammi t_ _,”_ Nicole grumbled, hoisting her up a bit more. 

“Sh, it’s ok. I know it's a weird angle and I’m heavy,” she said gently through her labored breaths as she reached between them and lined it back up. 

The taller one pushed it back in, but stayed flush against her with an upset brow. “Waverly Haught, you are not _heavy_.” 

She rolled her eyes as she cupped her neck and met her lips. “Just _fuck_ me, Sheriff.” 

A low noise crawled up Nicole’s throat. She unpinned Waverly from the wall, turning towards her desk and dropping her onto the side where it was the most clear so she could do _just that_ with far less trouble. She slid Waverly’s right leg down to wrap around her thigh as she grabbed her other one and hooked her knee over her arm. Waverly leaned back on her palms, trying to rock into her with a bite of her lip. The redhead smirked as she gripped the top of her thigh with her right hand and cupped the back of her neck with the other as she leaned forward to smash their lips together, immediately beginning to pistol into her a whole lot faster than she had been before. Waverly let out a hushed cry and the older one let out a groan at the wave of new pleasure from this position, slipping her hand down from the back of her neck. She pushed Waverly’s skirt up and pulled from her lips, meeting her eyes as she slid her thumb through her folds, letting it be bumped by her belt on each thrust as she rolled it around. 

“ _Nicole_ ,” Waverly whined, the heel of her boot digging into the back of her thigh as she tried to pull her closer. Her eyes rolled back as Nicole took a step towards her, now able to make her strokes shorter, but faster and harder. 

The Sheriff’s teeth bared as the brunette grabbed her face and kissed up and down her neck. “You’re gonna make me explode here ‘n now if you keep that up,” she breathed out. She rolled her thumb around faster in hopes to speed things up for the brunette since she was already struggling to hold it off. Waverly pulled from her neck, looking up at her with her mouth slightly opened, just watching her face as she fucked her for a few seconds. “What d’you want, Baby?” Nicole asked. 

The smaller girl’s core clenched at the question, eyes closing for a second. “ _Harder_.” 

Nicole almost came with a moan, pressing her face into her neck to silence it. She squeezed her arm tighter around her leg as she began to split her open, angling her thrusts in a way that could send her the deepest while also passing over Waverly’s g-spot every time. “ _Yes_ , like that. _Fuck, Nic_ .” Her fingers dug into the wood of the desk, shoulders letting her head roll backward as they came together slightly in the front. Nicole felt her thigh muscles twitching against her leg as she pulled the hood of her swollen clit back to flick across her most sensitive part. “Oh my _God_ , don’t you dare stop. I don’t care if _Wynonna_ walks in, don’t you fucking stop,” Waverly moaned. 

Though . . . maybe she shouldn’t have.

“Are you gonna come for me?” Nicole husked, face pushed up against her neck when Waverly lifted her head again as she tried to lessen the sounds coming out of her mouth at random. 

“ _Ah_ -almost.” Waverly’s whole face, down to her chest, was flushed, but she was nowhere _near_ the practically purple blotches on the redhead as she continued to hold herself back. “You fuck me so good, Baby.” The redhead’s hips only slammed into her _harder_ with that, eyes screwing shut. 

“HAUGHTS, YOU AIN’T GON’ BELIEVE WH-” The door opened slightly and Wynonna only had the time to get her head and part of her torso in before her brain half-caught up to her eyes, and she stopped dead in her tracks: Her _baby sister_ was getting _obliterated_ by her sister-in-law in a _strap-on_ . And she had _never_ been more mortified. 

Their heads whipped towards her paled face with slightly _less_ paled faces, considering they were both borderline-orgasm. “Wynonna, _go_ ! I told you to leave us alone!” Waverly snapped, looking back up at the redhead and grabbing her chin. “ _You stop, you die_.” 

Nicole didn’t falter in her pace, though her eyes were bulging out of her head, knowing her wife’s sister was watching her _rail_ her. She tipped her head down to try and mask a guttural groan. “ _Earp_ , if you don’t beat it, you’re about to see something you _never_ wanted to see.”

Wynonna shook out of her shock with that, and she clapped her hand over her eyes. “You guys owe me _so_ much money for therapy! _Jesus Christ_!” 

“ _Fuck_ \- Earp, _get_ _out_ _!”_ Nicole snapped as her eyes screwed shut. Her vision blurred and core rippled as she stifled a throaty moan, “S _hit, Waves. I’m-_ ” 

Right as she heard the door slam, colors popped in front of her eyes as she slid her hand out from around her leg and shoved it in her mouth, hips stuttering slightly at first as her orgasm stormed over with no remorse. 

Waverly pushed off her hands and sat up as her leg dropped from her arm and pulled Nicole forward to grip her arms around her neck. Nicole’s breathing was still ragged as she pulled her hand from her mouth, flicking her thumb below at full speed as she kept the pounding force when she wrapped her arm around her waist to keep her from dropping backward. 

The brunette’s orgasm hit _fast and rough_ . She bit into the redhead’s shoulder with a cry, legs completely wrapping around her hips and keeping her from thrusting as her upper body went limp. Nicole let out a groan, eyes spinning back, and she was _sure_ she’d have a bruise from her teeth. The Sheriff hugged her tighter, rolling her hips to the best of her ability as she slowly slowed her finger while Waverly came down from her high. 

“Shit,” the brunette breathed out, letting Nicole out of the semi-chokehold she had put her in to just a loose wrap to keep her at the angle. Her leg-grip loosened and dropped as her chest heaved.

Nicole pulled her hand out from under her skirt, popping her thumb in her mouth with a wink. “It’s been a while since I’ve crippled you like this,” she smiled with a wiggle of her brows, knowing it wasn’t odd for her to walk with an odd limp for a day or two after these types of _occasions_.

“It has,” the brunette nodded in agreement, pushing her hands through Nicole’s sweat-dampened hair and running her thumbs over her ears. “I love it, though.” 

“Mm, I know you do,” she muttered with a grin, leaning into a deep kiss. She slid her hands down her sides to her hips, gripping them with a devilish smirk as she quickly drew out and snapped back forward before Waverly could even realize it. 

She groaned into her mouth, arms tightening around the redhead’s neck as her leg muscles fluttered. “ _Baby_ ,” she breathed when she pulled from her lips, tipping her head in warning. 

Nicole simply gave her a dimpled smile in innocence and Waverly shook her head. She chuckled, grabbing the base as she slowly pulled it out, hand going back under her skirt to gather on her fingers what was finally able to drip out when Waverly sat completely upright. The redhead’s free hand subconsciously went to the grey length bobbing in between her legs with a few lazy strokes as she removed her other from below and brought her fingers to her mouth once again with a breathy sigh. 

The brunette rolled her eyes playfully, pushing her back slightly so she could hop down. She grabbed onto her arm when her feet hit the floor, steadying herself on her jellified legs. “Good?” Nicole questioned, moving both hands to her hips.

“I’m great,” she smiled with a quick peck. 

“Ok . . .” Her mouth curved into a sly smile. “Do you mind, uh, cleanin’ that off for me?” She grabbed Waverly’s hand and wrapped it around the toy, never once leaving her eyes. 

The brunette smirked. “I would love to.” She dropped to her knees in front of her and set the tip in her mouth, curling her fingers around her belt as she slowly took it all the way in, cleaning the taste of herself off with a few bobs of her head before pulling her mouth off with a pop, standing back to her feet with a smile.

“Why, thank you, Love.” Nicole pushed a kiss to her cheek as she reached in through the hole in her pants, pushing it back in. She lifted the band of her briefs and stuck the tip under it before zipping them and adjusting herself a bit before looking up at her wife. “Can you tell?” 

“Well, anyone who is looking at your crotch long enough to notice the _tiny_ bit of evidence that something’s up can come have a chat with me,” she answered with a tight smile and a pat on her chest. 

Nicole chuckled, running her hands through her hair a few times as she walked over to her desk and pulled a bottle of body spray out of her top drawer, spraying herself down with it. “I’ll send ‘em your way.” Waverly giggled as she walked over to her purse and pulled her perfume out, spritzing herself down. Nicole smiled, walking over to her. “You, uh, wanna go deal with Wynonna now?” 

“Oh _God,”_ she groaned. “Do we have to?” 

“We’ll have to eventually,” she sighed, pulling the door open and letting her hand guide her by the small of her back. They both looked around, happy that everyone seemed to be none the wiser to what was going on in there since their exit hadn’t been stared at. Both of their eyes searched around for the older Earp, Waverly finally spotting her in the break room down the hall. 

“C’mon,” she mumbled, grabbing her hand and slowly pulling her along. 

On further inspection, they noticed when they arrived at the door that she was _very forcefully_ washing her eyes out at the sink. Nicole leaned against the doorframe, letting out a clearing of her throat. Wynonna lifted her head, turning to look at them and letting her face pale again. “Hi, Wynonna,” they both mumbled.

“Stay away from me.”

“I hope you realize that was your own fault,” Waverly grumbled as she walked over to her anyways.

Wynonna let out a gag, covering her eyes as she leaned back against the sink. “I can’t even look at you, Babygirl.” 

Waverly pulled her hands away from her face with a huff. “Weren’t you told not to come back in the room?” 

“Yes,” she answered quietly, keeping her eyes off her sister. 

“And _did_ you come back in the room?” 

“Yea.” 

Waverly raised her brows at her. “Wow! I _think_ that means it’s your fault!” 

Wynonna looked towards her with a glare, flicking them towards Nicole as she walked over. Her face scrunched up at her. “And _you!_ You- _God,_ Haught, _really?!_ In your _office?!”_

Nicole blinked at her for a few seconds. “You realize I’ve walked in on you and Doc _or_ Dolls in the BBD office _multiple_ times now, right?” 

“So!?”

“So don’t make it seem like _I’m_ the only one that's gotten some on the job!” 

Wynonna made a face. “Ok, but was the- the-” She let out a loud groan as she flapped her hands towards her crotch. “Was that part necessary?!” 

“What, this?” Nicole asked as she gripped the shaft of the strap-on through her pants, watching Wynonna gag again. “I mean, I think it was, yea.” 

Waverly smacked her arm, pulling her hand away with a playful glare. “She’s already traumatized.” 

“You think she’s learned her lesson yet?” Nicole questioned. 

Waverly let out a sad sigh, shaking her head. “Probably not.” 

Wynonna let out a high-pitched whine. “Leave me _alone!”_

 _“Ok,_ fine,” Nicole sighed, crossing her arms. “No more torture.” 

_“Thank you,”_ she grumbled, pinching the bridge of her nose. She opened her eyes and flicked them between the two, stopping on Waverly with her brows furrowed at her arm. “What’s that for?” 

Waverly cocked a brow as she looked down at it, her eyes widening for a moment as she ran her finger across the tape with the piece of cotton on it from where she had gotten her blood drawn earlier. She looked back up at her sister with a shrug. “I had a doctor’s appointment earlier.”

“For what?” 

“Just a check-up,” she answered, flicking her eyes towards Nicole, who was staring down at her feet. 

“Why’d they use you as a stick ‘n poke?”

“I don’t _know,_ Nonna,” Waverly huffed. “They just wanted to do some bloodwork.” 

“Oh,” she mumbled, turning towards the fridge and pulling out a Subway footlong, unwrapping it and taking a bite off one end. “Well, excuse me while I try to walk past that office without throwing up cause thanks to _you_ and Strappy McStrap-On, I think I’ve earned a day off.” She gave them a tight-lipped smile as she chewed, moving past them. 

Waverly glared at her sister as she passed her and Nicole _was_ going to yell at her, but the brunette gave her arm a squeeze with a shake of her head. “Let her go.” 

The Sheriff pushed off the counter. “No, I was gonna tell her to gimme my damn _lunch_ back,” she huffed, starting after her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quite the first chapter, aye? Ikr  
> Very fitting considering how we just got 4x02 gifted to us yesterday 👀
> 
> Not sure when the next chapter will be out, but yea. Here's the start for WayHaught's journey! 
> 
> Wish them luck . . . They're gonna need it


	2. A Lil Sugar Always Does the Trick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The anniversary of Nicole's father's death is never an easy one for her

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EEk ok here's chap 2 of this. Took me a bit longer than I thought it would, but that's ok.  
> Um...Good luck lmao
> 
> TW: Stuff surrounding Nic's dad's death/all that (Backstory for that in YAMHP chap 21 btw) And Nic is really angry so stuff with that too (Think about how Nicole punched her car that one time in front of Waves before you come at me lmao)
> 
> If you were expecting this fic to start off all happy, YOU WERE WRONG  
> Enjoy the angst and pain, but the whole chap isn't sad, I promise :)

**Tuesday, August 18th, 2020, 9:41 AM**

Nicole’s eyes shot wide open and she thrashed around on the bed as she tried to ground herself, her chest heaving as she gripped her fists into the sheet beneath her. She looked down at her hand when she felt another land on top of it and snapped her eyes up to see a  _ very  _ concerned Waverly right next to her. She sat up quickly and took the brunette’s face in her hands, tracing her eyes over her. “Wh- Why’re you screamin’?” She questioned with worried eyes, tears sliding out of them without her even noticing. “What’d I do?” 

Waverly shook her head, letting out a breath as she cupped her hands over the redhead’s. “ _ You  _ were screaming, Baby.” She ran her thumb over her hand. “You didn’t do anything, I just came in here when I heard you.” Nicole furrowed her brows and sat back, leaning against the headboard as she rubbed her face and let out a heavy breath. Waverly moved closer to her, gently dropping her hand to her thigh. “. . . Do you remember what the dream was about?” 

Nicole slowly let her hands slip from her face and leaned her head back against the headboard, looking towards Waverly and flinching, letting out a groan as she rubbed her palms into her eyes. “Yep-  _ Jesus.” _

“D’you wanna talk about it?” Waverly asked softly. 

The redhead dropped her hands again with a shaky breath and tipped her head a little at her with a shake of her head. “Why’re you even  _ home, _ Waverly?”

She furrowed her brow sadly. “Cause I took off today for you.” 

“Why?” Nicole huffed as she moved to get off the bed. 

“I wasn’t gonna leave you home all alone, Nic. Not on a day like today,” she answered gently as she followed her. 

Nicole hitched her lip and looked back at her over her shoulder as she walked down the hallway. “Why the hell would you do that?” 

_ “Because  _ I’m  _ worried  _ about you.”

She shook her head as she grabbed a mug out of the cabinet once they were in the kitchen. “I’m fine.”

“Babe-”

“And I’m going to work today, so you taking off was  _ pointless.”  _

Waverly widened her eyes at her and shook her head forcefully. “No, you are  _ not  _ going to work.” 

_ “Don’t _ tell me what to do,” Nicole snapped, looking towards her with hard eyes. 

“You  _ promised  _ me you’d never work on today,” the brunette huffed, crossing her arms as she took a few steps closer to her. Nicole’s lip hitched again, and she turned towards the coffee maker, pulling the pot out and setting it on the counter next to the mug as she let out a breath. 

_ Today. _

_ Today  _ was the 15th anniversary of the day her father tried to kill her and her mother, so no,  _ totally  _ not a big deal or anything. Had she promised Waverly that? She sure had. Did she care about that right now? Not at all. 

Nicole rolled her shoulders a little before shrugging, scratching her thumb on the side of the mug in her hand. “I guess that sucks then,” she grumbled, her voice in a low, emotionless tone that was  _ nothing  _ but red flags for her wife. 

“Nic . . .” Waverly said softly, trying to keep the wobble from her voice. “I really don’t wanna fight about this.” 

“Then  _ fuck  _ off.  _ There’s  _ an easy solution.”

_ “Nicole-” _

_ “God damnit,  _ Waverly!” Nicole spun around and flung the mug in her hand towards the wall beside her. Waverly jumped with a startled shriek when it collided with the edge of the counter and shattered on impact. 

Nicole’s face went from angry to horrified in a snap of a finger. She looked down at her now-shaky hands and then to the pieces of ceramic that were all over the floor and counter before covering her mouth as she slid down the cabinets to the floor.

She hadn’t even meant to throw it- Hell, she hadn’t even noticed she  _ had  _ until she heard it shatter. She was  _ terrified  _ of herself. Not only because she had done  _ that,  _ but for a split-second, she had  _ seen  _ it.

For a split-second, Waverly was scared of her. 

Nicole’s eyes shot up, catching a blink of Waverly before she disappeared down the hallway. The redhead choked back a sob, pulling her knees to her chest and dropping her forehead to rest on the top of them as she curled her arms around her legs. 

Nicole took a few minutes to calm down before lifting her head again, letting her eyes fall to the mess on the floor. She sniffled as she pushed herself up, letting out a breath as she put the coffee pot back in it’s spot before moving over towards the cupboard where they kept the broom. She trudged back over to the counter and used her hands to brush everything off, dropping it all in the trash can behind her before starting to sweep the rest of it into a pile on the floor.

Nicole raised her head as she pushed all the shards into the dustpan, swallowing roughly when Waverly stepped out into her view. The Sheriff looked back down, gathering the rest of it before standing and dumping it in the trash. She clipped the dustpan back on the broom and leaned it against the island, meeting Waverly’s eyes, not ignoring the fact that she had tear stains on her face now. The redhead shook her head, trying to keep her emotions in check. “I’m  _ so _ sorry, Baby.” 

Waverly’s jaw worked for a few seconds as she pulled at a string on the sleeve of her sweater. “Never again.” 

Nicole shook her head.  _ “Never.” _

Waverly nodded, knowing by the look on her face that she meant it. “Good.” She turned and headed for the living room, hearing the redhead slowly following behind her. She sat down on the couch and Nicole sat in front of her, pulling her legs up towards herself. “Look at me.” Nicole raised her eyes to meet her’s. “If you  _ ever  _ do something even  _ close  _ to what you just did-” 

“I won’t, Wave,” Nicole butt in. “I- I won’t. Never.”

Waverly shot her a look. “There was  _ no  _ reason you needed to do that.  _ None. _ ”  __

“I didn’t mean to-”

“I don't  _ care  _ if you  _ meant  _ to.” Nicole dropped her gaze. “I don’t know  _ where  _ your brain went for those few minutes there, but you  _ never  _ talk to me like that or fucking  _ throw  _ things.” 

“I don’t know either,” she mumbled. “I’m sorry.” 

“I get today’s really rough, but, Baby, you’ve  _ gotta  _ stop holding things in. You’ve been doing  _ so  _ good with that, so why stop now?”

Nicole let go of her lip that she had been biting down on to keep the tears in her eyes, shaking her head as she scooted towards her wife and crawled right onto her lap. Waverly let out a heavy sigh, hugging her arms around her middle as she leaned back against the arm of the couch. The redhead looped her arms around her neck, pressing her face into her shoulder as the tears returned.  _ “There _ you go,” Waverly breathed out. “Let it all out, Honey.” 

The redhead sat up, meeting her eyes and sucking in an unsteady breath. “Th- The dream.” Waverly nodded, sliding her hands to her waist. “It was, like, out-of-body, a-and it was that night, but it- it wasn’t. Instead of my mom, it was  _ y-you, _ instead of him, it was  _ me,  _ and instead of me, it was  _ o-our kid.” _

Waverly closed her mouth that had fallen open, shaking her head as a tear rolled down her face. “Nic . . .”

Nicole cut her off. “And she looked  _ just  _ like you when you were younger, b-but, like, a ginger version of you. I was doing  _ everything  _ to her as he did to me, a-and I just couldn’t do anything about it.” She closed her eyes for a second, gripping the brunette’s sweater at her shoulders in her fists. “You- In there, right after I threw the thing, y-you had the same scared look on you face that you  _ both  _ did in the dream, a-and-”

Waverly took Nicole’s face in her hands when she was crying too hard to speak, rubbing her thumbs on her cheeks. “Shh, it was just a  _ nightmare.  _ Nothing like that would  _ ever  _ happen, you know that.” 

“But-” 

Waverly shook her head. “No but’s. You’d  _ never  _ hurt our baby.”

“You thought I was gonna hurt you in there-”

“I didn’t,” she whispered, pulling her face closer so their foreheads touched. “I just . . . didn’t know where you went. Where  _ my  _ Nic went. The Nic that I know would  _ never  _ do  _ anything  _ to hurt the people she loves.” She pressed her hand over the redhead’s heart. “But you’re here again, and I knew you would be, so it’s  _ ok.” _

Nicole let out a breath, closing her eyes as she relaxed against her touch, slowly leaning back forward to rest her body against her. “I’m just . . . sorry.” 

“I know, Love,” Waverly mumbled. “You’ve just . . . gotta remember your anger management stuff.” 

Nicole opened her eyes as she rested her chin on her shoulder, letting out a sigh, “I know.” The year before, Waverly had forced Nicole, Doc, Dolls,  _ and  _ Wynonna into an five-part anger management program after a  _ certain  _ occasion where she had walked in on the four of them  _ maybe  _ going a little overboard with the torture trying to get information out of a Revenant. It  _ had  _ helped them all a little bit, and that was all Waverly needed, so she didn’t regret it. 

The brunette let out a hum, rubbing her hand up and down her back. “. . . You’re making my legs go numb.” 

Nicole quickly sat up and pushed off of her with a sad furrow of her brow. “I’m sorry-” 

“Stop apologizing for everything, Honey,” Waverly said softly, rubbing her hands on her knees. She kicked her legs flat out and laid down, grabbing Nicole’s wrists and pulling her to lay on her chest. “C’mere.” Nicole let out a sniffle, pulling the blue blanket down off the back of the couch and wrapping it around them. Waverly ran her fingers through her hair when she settled, working out the tangles. “There we go,” she sighed, grabbing the remote off of the table and flicking the TV on. “You’re alright.” 

Nicole relaxed some more with the mixture of feeling her fingers running against her scalp, the faint sound of her heartbeat that she could hear since her ear was on her chest, and the security of knowing that right here, right now, she was safe _right_ in Waverly’s arms. “. . . I’m alright,” Nicole echoed back softly.

Waverly smiled, meeting her eyes when she tipped her head up some. She pressed her lips against her forehead for a moment before leaning her head back against the throw pillow she had pulled under her head, letting out a breath of content. “Are you gonna make the game tonight?” She asked, knowing the Blue Devils played their very first game of the season tonight. 

Nicole looked up at her again. “. . . You gonna come?”

“If you want me to, then yea. I’ll ride on a bus filled with a bunch of nasty teenage boys with you.”

The redhead hummed with a small smile, looking back towards the TV. “Then yea.”

**2:39 PM**

Waverly pulled the brush through her hair once more before setting it down on the counter, pulling it all back towards the left side of her head and beginning to braid it down from the very front of her head, already having done another dutch braid down the other side. She wrapped an elastic band around the end of it once she finished and pushed both braids back over her shoulders, pulling her baby hairs out in front of her ears. She checked herself over, opening the cabinet and grabbing her lip gloss, putting some of that on before turning out of the bathroom. She headed to their room, adjusting the single strap of her dark overalls that she had hooked over her Blue Devils baseball tee. “You almost ready?” The brunette asked, slowing down when she saw Nicole standing over by the mirror on the wall, tugging on her grey and navy Adidas sneakers. 

The redhead stood up straight, flicking the hood of her Blue Devils hoodie over her head and fixing the brim of her matching snapback that she had under it before turning to face her. She cocked a brow at the look on her face. “What?” 

Waverly grinned a little as she walked over to her and hooked her fingers on the hem of her grey joggers. “You look hot.” 

Nicole rolled her eyes. “I’m in a hoodie and sweatpants.” 

_ “Yea,  _ and you look hot.” 

She let out a heavy sigh, pressing a kiss to her lips. “Well, to answer your question, yes, I’m ready.” 

“Good, let’s go.” Waverly turned away from her, almost losing her balance when Nicole yanked her back by the strap that wasn’t connected on her overalls and smacked her ass with a grip. 

“For the record, you look hot, too,” she mumbled as she pressed a kiss to her jaw. 

Waverly threw her a look over her shoulder with a smirk, pulling away from her. “Thanks, Coach.” 

Nicole pursed her lips at the brunette as she walked out of the room with a giggle, shaking her head as she grabbed all of her necessities off of the nightstand, sticking them in her pocket and letting  _ her  _ school lanyard with the fob and ID badge hang out of the other. Waverly had been  _ so  _ annoyed with her when she had gotten the head coach position because it just meant Nicole got a key to the school and was able to get into the school to come bug her while she was trying to teach  _ that  _ much more often than she had before when she didn’t have a way to get into the school without having to have an excuse. She even had her own little office that she shared with the other coaches there now. 

But then again, it just gave them another room to screw around in without anyone seeing, so Waverly was fine with that.

Nicole pulled the front door shut behind her, spinning her keys around her finger as she walked out to the Tahoe, climbing in and starting it up. “Ready?” She asked as she buckled up.

Waverly nodded, dropping her hand to the console and grabbing Nicole’s, slowly tracing her thumb across the scar running up her middle finger. “Ready as I’ll ever be.” 

**2:48 PM**

_ “Nicole,”  _ Waverly warned, trying to grab at her hoodie as she speed-walked ahead of her. “I’m not even supposed to  _ be  _ here today.” 

_ “Whoops,”  _ she said before raising her walking to a slow jog, continuing down the hallway towards Waverly’s classroom before ripping the door open and running inside. All of the kids in her study hall’s heads snapped up and they grinned back at her. “All of y’all are bouta see an  _ angry  _ Mrs. Haught, just a warning,” Nicole smirked, ignoring the  _ very  _ confused look she was getting from the substitute sitting at Waverly’s desk. She turned her head, watching the door as she moved towards the back corner of the room and waiting until she saw Waverly whip around the doorframe before diving onto the beanbags littering the floor. 

_ “Nicole Rayleigh Haught,”  _ the brunette said through her teeth as she headed over there, stopping when she saw all three of the baseball boys in her homeroom run over and jump on top of the redhead. The whole class was laughing their asses off, and she let out a heavy sigh as she leaned back against her desk, looking towards the sub and shaking her head. “I’m so sorry.” 

The older woman- who was a sub she  _ hadn’t  _ met before- stared up at her with wide eyes. “I still don’t know what’s going on to be honest with you.” 

“Well, as you can see . . .” Waverly held her hand out towards the redhead, who was currently being buried  _ under  _ beanbags by the boys. “My wife  _ also  _ thinks she’s a 13 year old.” The confusion on the woman’s face didn’t falter, even with that information. Waverly raised a brow at her. “. . . This is my class.”

“Ooh!” She said in realization, allowing it all to piece together. Waverly gave her a tight smile with a chuckle, somewhat confused as to how she hadn’t known considering she had been sitting at a desk with pictures of Waverly and various members of her family all day. “Sorry, I just usually don’t see the teacher I’m subbing for show up in class.” 

Waverly sighed, “Yea, this wasn’t the plan.” She pushed off her desk and headed over to the dogpile of boys wrestling either with or on top of her wife. “Ok, hey. I’m not getting in trouble if you get hurt, playtime's over.”

The boys looked up at her, letting out grumbles as they got up off the floor, two of them holding their hands out and pulling Nicole to her feet. She pulled her hat off and pushed her hair back, putting it back on with an innocent smile. Waverly glared at her. “You’re in trouble.” 

“Oo, I’m in trouble” Nicole echoed with a wiggle of her brows, hearing all three boys snort behind her. 

The brunette smacked her stomach with a warning tip of her head.  _ “Quit-”  _

She stopped when the announcement tone sounded off, pursing her lips as she waited for the message to roll over.  _ “Teachers, please release all baseball and softball players to get ready for their games. Thank you.”  _

“I might ride on the girl’s bus and watch  _ their  _ game instead,” Waverly grumbled with a cross of her arms, flicking her eyes towards the couple of softball girls that jumped out of their seats and gathered their things. 

“You won’t be able to lead pre-game bus karaoke then,” Nicole said with a pout of her lip, flicking her hood over her head as she spun around her and followed the three boys out of the classroom. 

Waverly sighed as she followed, giving the substitute another smile as she passed her and pushing her hands into her pockets as she looked out towards her class. “Did everything go ok today?” She asked, getting a bunch of nods in response. She smiled, slowly continuing towards the door. “Ok, good. I’ll be back tomorrow, alright?” 

“Why weren’t you here today?” One of them questioned. 

“Just had some other stuff going on,” she answered with a shrug, tapping her nails on the doorframe when she reached it. “Pray for me, I’m riding the boys' bus to the game.” 

“Oh  _ god,”  _ one of the girls mumbled with a hitch of her lip. 

_ “Right?” _ Waverly let out a groan with a roll of her eyes. “It reminds me of when I was a cheerleader and I had to ride with the nasty football boys in high school.” 

_ “Ew.”  _

The brunette shook her head, “If I don’t have a nose tomorrow, you know why.” She smirked, continuing out of the room after she heard a couple of giggles and walking towards the gym where she knew the redhead had headed to since that’s where her equipment and the door to the buses were. She walked in, spotting Nicole lugging an orange water cooler out of the equipment room and setting it by the exit door, dropping the bag of cups she had been holding with her teeth next to it. Waverly headed towards her, raising her brows with a smile when she saw the Sheriff was heading in her direction now anyways. 

She hadn’t realized it  _ initially, _ but walking so close to the locker room doors was a  _ dangerous  _ idea, and it was only proven more so when Nicole took two giant leaps towards her and hooked her arm around her middle to pull her back before she got smacked with one that swung open.  _ “Watch it,  _ Butler,” Nicole snapped at the wide-eyed 8th grader.

“Sorry, Mrs. Haught,” he mumbled, slinging his bag over his shoulder with an embarrassed tint on his cheeks as he looked at his teacher. 

Waverly shook her head. “It’s fine, Will-” She cut herself off with a loose grimace, but Nicole’s body had already tensed against her back, so it was pointless. The brunette gave the boy a quick, assuring smile, allowing him to continue on to go load help load their bus. She turned around and Nicole’s arm fell to her side, an angry, glazed-over look in her eye now taking place of the happiness and excitement there before. Waverly let out a breath, grabbing her wrist and pulling her towards the band room that was connected to the gym and pulling the door open, knowing no one was in there this close to the end of the school day. “Hey,” she mumbled, letting her lean back against the wall as the door closed behind them. “I’m sorry, I didn’t even think abo-”

Nicole met her eyes. “What? That his name triggers me? Of course you didn’t. Why would you? It’s dumb-”

“It’s not dumb, Honey,” Waverly said softly, grabbing the Sheriff’s hands so they would stop clenching and unclenching at her sides. 

Nicole shook her head, pushing off the wall and moving around her. “I’m fine.” 

Waverly caught her arm. “Nic-”

“Waves,” the redhead said to cut her off, looking towards her pointedly. “I’m fine. I just needed a second.” 

Waverly tipped her head at her sadly, letting go of her arm with a sigh,  _ just  _ to grab her by the front of the hoodie and pull her down into a kiss before Nicole’s hand on the doorknob could pull it open. She smiled against the Sheriff’s lips when she immediately felt her body relax as it pressed against her front, Nicole’s shoulders dropping and her hand falling off the doorknob and landing gently on her hip. Waverly pulled back after a few more seconds, loosening her grip on her hoodie and sliding her hand down her front. “Better?” 

Nicole smiled that love-drunk smile that Waverly never got sick of with a little nod. “Mmhm.” 

“Mmhm,” Waverly hummed back. “Thought that might help.” 

“A lil sugar always does the trick, Darlin’,” Nicole drawled, pulling her closer by the hips and dipping her head again. 

Waverly slid her hand up to her cheek, rubbing her thumb across her cheekbones before pulling from her lips. “We have over a two year track-record of never getting caught at school. I don’t wanna change that now.” 

Nicole let out a dramatic sigh,  _ “Fine.”  _

The two slipped out of the band room, only getting a  _ few  _ weird looks from the players wandering around. “Mind your business,” Nicole muttered, gripping one of the 7th graders by the shoulder and turning him around, giving him a push towards the door. She gave him a light smack on the back of the head when he snorted. “I thought you  _ liked  _ being my right starter.”

“I  _ do,”  _ he defended. 

“Then go load the water jug onto the bus.” 

He let out a groan, walking ahead of them to do so. Nicole smirked as she looked towards the brunette, who was shaking her head at her. “I don’t know how you do that.” 

“What?” Nicole asked with a laugh as she leaned into the equipment room, grabbing her backpack with various paperwork and such in it off the floor and slinging it over one shoulder

“Have a relationship with every single one of them like that . . . Like, I don’t understand how you can screw around with them one minute and be barking out orders and plays the next.” 

Nicole pushed her hands in her pockets with a shrug as they walked outside, standing on the sidewalk by the bus as the boys got all of their things put in it. “I just- I dunno, I understand how teenage boys’ brains work, I guess. I spent four years with them in high school on my team, so maybe that’s why. They respect you when you understand and respect them, so when you  _ actually  _ try to do that, they’re not gonna treat you like shit. They all know I’ll screw around and act like a dumbass with them whenever it doesn’t matter, but when it's go-time, they’re gonna get their asses handed to them if they’re not listening to me.”

Waverly smiled up at her. “You love your job.” 

The redhead grinned wide. “I’ve helped this team through two straight championship wins, so let’s see if it loves me, too, and gives us three this year.” 

The brunette shook her head at her as Nicole moved forward towards the bus to chat with some of them.  _ Personally,  _ Waverly thought that Purgatory’s two  _ very first  _ baseball championship wins were from the good mojo she brought when she started teaching there, but that was just  _ her  _ opinion. 

“Load it up, Devils, let’s go!” Nicole shouted. “We’ve gotta be outta here before the school bell rings at three!”

The boys not already on the bus began jumping on and finding the seats, and Waverly walked over to where Nicole and her assistant coach were standing by the door. They waited until everyone was on before loading, the redhead allowing Waverly and Coach Bahri on first. 

Waverly let out a whine when Nicole hopped on. “I don’t wanna be on the inside.”

Nicole let out a sigh, pulling her backpack off and slipping past Waverly when she turned sideways and sitting in the seat behind the driver in the first row. She dropped the bag to the floor and turned around, standing up on her knees on the seat as the brunette plopped down next to her. “Aye, listen up!” Nicole shouted, waiting for the bus to quiet down before continuing. “What’re we gonna do when we get to the field?” 

“Get our things into the dugout!” They all shouted in unison. 

“And what’re we  _ not  _ gonna do?” Nicole asked with her brows raised high. 

“Act like idiots!” 

Nicole nodded. “So if you  _ do?”  _

_ “Everybody  _ runs!” 

The redhead grinned wide, drumming her hands on top of the seat a few times. “Alright, let’s get it.” She spun around and tapped the side of the bus driver’s seat. “We’re ready when you are.” He gave her a nod in the mirror with a smile, shifting the bus out of park and pulling away from the school. 

Waverly turned and stood on her knees  _ just  _ as Nicole sat down next to her. “Ok, wait, does that mean when you guys are being idiots in  _ my  _ class, I can just go make you run?” 

_ “No!”  _ They all shouted, half of them serious and half in whines. 

She scoffed, “Why not?” 

“Cause then you’re gonna tell Coach and we’re gonna have to run even  _ more _ ,” one of them grumbled. 

Nicole looked up at Waverly with a smirk before turning her head towards the kid that said it. “Damn straight.” 

_ “Hey,”  _ the brunette grumbled, smacking her shoulder with a glare. 

“What?” Nicole laughed. 

“Watch your mouth.” 

Nicole cocked a brow at her. “Why? They’re not  _ five.”  _

She threw her a look.  _ “No.  _ But I’m not allowed to cuss around them so that means you can’t either.”

“Who says you can’t?” Nicole questioned. 

“Uh, my  _ bosses.” _

The Sheriff was about to say something, but one of the boys said it for her. _ “Oo, _ do it.” 

“Bet you won’t,” another one said with a smirk. 

“C’mon, Mrs. Haught, Coach cusses all the time.” Waverly glared down at her wife again after she heard that one in the mix of the growing amount of dares coming at her. 

“Just say one,” the kid sitting right behind them coaxed. 

Waverly shifted her eyes towards him, narrowing them before raising her brows with a smirk.  _ “Hell  _ no.” 

She hadn’t expected the  _ immediate  _ shitty grin on his face  _ or  _ how quickly the boys began to go absolutely  _ feral _ over it. They started screaming and hollering as if there was no tomorrow, and the brunette rolled her eyes with a shake of her head, turning around and sitting down. Nicole chuckled, dropping her arm over her shoulder and pressing a quick kiss to her cheek when she leaned into her. “They’ll be all over that for the rest of the day.”

“Oh, I’m sure of it,” Waverly sighed. 

**4:02 PM**

Waverly thanked the girl for her food at the concession stand and turned away from the counter, walking back over towards the seats under the pavilion. She had gotten her’s early, so she was sitting  _ right  _ behind home plate with the perfect view of the whole field in front of her. She dropped her bag of chips and her water onto her seat before heading towards the dugout, searching around for Nicole in the mass of boys getting ready for their game to start. “Here.” She tapped the redhead on the arm with the Gatorade, smiling when she turned towards her and grabbed it.

“Thank you.” 

“You’re welcome.”

Nicole cracked the lid and took a drink, wiggling her brows at her as she did so. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve, glancing up above Waverly’s head. “Chase, knock it off,” she huffed, glaring at the boy who was wacking people with his bat that he had stuck in between his legs. 

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

She rolled her eyes, looking back down at Waverly with a sigh. The brunette giggled, poking her ribs a few times. “I love it when you get all in charge.” 

Nicole’s lips twitched into a small smirk and she let out a hum, flicking her eyes towards the field and seeing that the other team was walking off from warming up. She leaned her head down next to Waverly’s head. “You might like this then.” She quickly stepped out from behind her and brought her fingers to her mouth to blow a quick whistle, getting all the boys’ attention. “Alright! Listen!” 

The brunette grinned wide, leaning back against the wall and enjoying the show as Nicole began preaching about what she expected out of them during their first game. There was just something about the way she held herself with that cocky stance, pacing slowly with her hands locked behind her back, and the way her voice continued to get louder and louder as she went on, her pitch changing at times  _ just  _ to make sure the boys were paying attention. 

Waverly was so damn gay for her wife, it wasn’t even funny. 

So much, in fact, that _since_ she was so focused on Nicole, she almost didn’t realize that all of the players were screaming and clapping for a few seconds before they grabbed their gear and ran out past her towards the field. She moved out of the way just in time, looking up at Nicole with a little laugh.

The redhead chuckled, and Waverly pushed off the wall, walking over to her. “How was that?” Nicole asked with a cross of her arms. 

“Well, Sheriff.” Waverly ran her hands down her arms, pulling her hands onto her hips. “I never thought I would’ve needed to bring a spare pair of underwear to a baseball game, but here we are.” 

Nicole widened her eyes at her.  _ “Mrs. Haught.”  _

“Hm?” She questioned with an innocent tip of her head. 

“You said that a little loud,” she mumbled. 

“Did I?” Waverly asked, slowly grinning at her.  _ “Whoopsie.” _

Nicole shook her head. “You’re a tease.” 

“I could do it all night, too.” 

_ “Don’t _ you dare,” Nicole muttered. 

“Mm, what if I wanna?” Waverly asked as she pulled her wrists, trying to get her hands onto her ass. 

Nicole kept her hands planted where they were, though. She leaned down towards Waverly’s face, feeling her arch into her as she pulled her head backward with wide eyes. Waverly had seen the look on her face, and she did  _ not  _ want to know what it meant. Nicole licked her lips, narrowing her eyes some as she flicked her gaze to her mouth. “Keep it up ‘n you’ll be on cum probation till I get you pregnant.” 

Waverly’s mouth fell open as she met her eyes again and she sucked in a sharp breath. “That’s like . . .  _ two weeks.”  _

“Oh, I’m well aware,” Nicole muttered, her voice dropped low in warning. 

The brunette swallowed under her gaze, slowly nodding after a few seconds. “. . . Ok.” 

The redhead tipped her head in question. “Ok, what?” 

“I’ll behave.” 

“Thought so.” Nicole stood up straight, smiling with full dimples as if nothing had happened. 

Waverly cleared her throat, giving her wrists that she still had death grips on a squeeze before letting go. “I, uh- I’m gonna . . .” She nodded towards where her seat was. “Out there.” 

Nicole furrowed her brow at her. “What’s wrong, Honey?” Waverly glared at her. “You seem . . .  _ flustered  _ or something.” 

Waverly shook her head at her, unclenching her jaw as she stood up on her toes to press a quick kiss to her lips. “Good luck out there.” 

“I feel like you’re gonna need it more than me,” she smirked, smacking her ass as she walked past her. 

_ “Fuck you,”  _ Waverly grumbled, turning and shoving her before continuing out of the dugout, hearing the Sheriff laughing as she went. She stomped back over to her seat and grabbed everything out of it, setting it on the ground as she sat down with her arms crossed. 

“Someone’s not happy.” 

Waverly turned her head, pursing her lips at the mother of one of the players that  _ also  _ had two other children she had taught. “No, I’m not.” 

“Why’s that?” Ashley asked with a chuckle.

“My wife’s bullying me.”

She let out another laugh. “Oh?” 

“I am not  _ bullying  _ you.” 

Waverly looked forward, glaring at Nicole, who was standing at the fence in front of her with a catcher’s mask pushed up on her head, her snapback backwards under it. “Yes, you  _ are.”  _

She pouted her lip at her playfully, gripping her hands into the fence. “I’m sorry, Baby.” 

“No, you’re not.” 

Nicole laughed a little. “Yea, I am. C’mere.”

“No.” 

“Wave,” Nicole mumbled. “C’mon.” 

“I will not accept your worded apology,” she sighed, dramatically looking around  _ everywhere  _ but the redhead’s face 

“Then what do you  _ want?” _ Nicole asked with a laugh, shaking the fence a little.

Waverly met her eyes with a smile. “Gimme your hoodie.” 

Nicole tipped her head.  _ “Really?” _

“Yes.” 

“That’s all you want?” 

“I mean, you  _ could  _ also-” 

Nicole let out a loud huff, pulling the catcher’s mask and hat off, dropping them to the ground beside her and pulling the hoodie off before the brunette could finish whatever  _ that  _ was gonna be. Waverly let out a giggle, doing grabby hands as she jumped out of her chair and bounced over to where the fence dropped to a level she could reach over. Waverly grabbed the hoodie with a grin, pulling it on and shaking the sleeves down over her hands. She giggled again, grabbing Nicole’s face and dragging her forward towards her, standing up on her toes so she could bend over the fence and press a kiss to her forehead. “Thank you,” she cooed.

Nicole smiled with a sigh, her heart eyes flashing as she looked at the size of the hoodie on her. She rolled the sleeves of her t-shirt once before rubbing her thumbs on the sleeve-covered hands still on her cheeks. “I love you.” 

“I love you, too,” she smiled, letting her hands drop to rest on the rail on the fence. “Go on, you’ve got a game to win.” 

Nicole grinned, turning away from her and heading back over to where she had dropped her things. “Yes, Ma’am.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two weeks until their first baby attempt! Hopefully it goes ok...


	3. Partner In Crime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A taste of some of the sucky part of the younger generation, Alice being the spitting image of her mother, and MAYBE a lil sum sum that officially starts WayHaught's journey to parenthood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys  
> I contemplated a lot over this chapter, but obviously I've found something that I'm semi-alright with sticking with. I'm not 100% if I like the way things happened with my planning, but yolo  
> TW: Homophobia  
> That's always a fun one  
> Anyway enjoy this chap. I've got a feeling many of you will be pleased with it

**Monday, August 31st, 2020 10:01 AM**

Waverly let out a heavy sigh, putting her hands on her hips as she looked out at the class. “Guys . . . I  _ really  _ don’t think you’re gonna get this one.” 

“Yea-huh!” A few of them whined. 

She let out a breath as she tipped her head.  _ “Ok.  _ If you say so . . .” She tapped the timeline on the SmartBoard with her pen. “So. On our timeline,  _ where  _ should we put . . . The War of 1812?” The smirk worked onto her face just as the sarcastic comments and groans of annoyance  _ immediately  _ began flying at her. “Guys, I’m serious. I  _ really  _ don’t know on this one.” She covered her mouth for a second to hide a laugh before sighing again. “What are we thinking?” 

“Oh, I dunno, 1812 maybe?” One of the boys in the front mumbled. 

“What makes you think that?” Waverly questioned. 

He smirked with a shake of his head. “Just a guess.”

The brunette nodded, poking her tongue out the side of her mouth with a grin as she tapped above that date, laughing a little when the answer popped up. “Well, would ya  _ look  _ at that.” 

“Who woulda thunk it,” one of the kids sighed, getting a few laughs out of some people. 

Waverly looked down at the watch on her wrist, seeing it was close to the end of the class period. “Ok, let’s finish this up real fast. When did Newfoundland join Canada?” 

“1949!” They all answered, and she tapped over to that date. 

“Good. What about . . . what happened in 1534?” A few hands went up, and she pointed to a girl in the back. “Taylor?” 

“Jacques Cartier explored the St. Lawrence region,” she answered. 

“Yup!” She smiled as she clicked it. “And . . . what about 1969?” 

Waverly flicked her eyes around at the hands that went up, but a boy in the third row answered before she could choose someone. 

“You  _ fags  _ got rights.” 

It seemed by the look on his face when Waverly’s hard eyes snapped towards him that he hadn’t  _ meant  _ to say it as loud as he did, but the other students around him throwing him glares or yelling at him made it apparent he had said it  _ loud and clear.  _

Waverly let out an agitated sigh as she walked forward a few steps and leaned forward against her podium, never having taken her eyes off of him. “Do you feel better now, Lucas?” He shrugged, leaning back all the way in his seat. Waverly shrugged back with a raise of her brows. “I dunno, I just asked cause I hear you saying nasty stuff like that all the time, so I figure you’re glad you’ve finally gotten under my skin with it this time.” 

Lucas shrugged again. “Ok.” 

“That’s it?” Waverly asked.  _ “Ok? _ . . . You sure were chatty before this. What happened?” Lucas rolled his eyes, and the brunette pressed her tongue against her cheek with a nod. “It’s funny actually. You say something like that and act like you’re  _ repulsed  _ by gay people, but to  _ your  _ knowledge, since you know I’m married to a woman, you assume I’m  _ also  _ gay. I’m  _ not,  _ I’m bisexual, but that’s not my point.” She pushed off her podium, slowly walking in his direction with her arms crossed. “That fact seems to slip your mind when you and your friends are talking about how  _ hot  _ I am.”

He scoffed, though shifted uncomfortably. “I never said that.” 

Waverly tipped her head with a raise of her brows, ignoring the side-chatter in the room now. “I’ve got about three teachers that could quote you guys word for word, Bud. _ Trust me, _ we hear a lot more than you think we do.” 

The bell rang to release them all to their next class, but not one of them moved a muscle. Waverly looked up, giving them all a nod. “Go ahead.” Lucas went to get up, but she stepped right in front of his exit.  _ “Not you.”  _

“Dude, you can’t keep me out of class,” he argued. 

“Watch me,” she huffed, walking over towards the door and waiting for the last one to leave before going to shut it. She stopped, though, widening her eyes at a worried Nicole leaning against the wall outside of the door. She held up a finger, grabbing the phone off the wall. “What’s your next class?” 

“PE,” he grumbled. 

“With Mr. Morris?” She asked, turning her head to look at Lucas. He nodded, and Waverly looked back at the phone, punching the gym’s phone code in and putting the phone to her ear, waiting for the beep. “Mr. Morris?” She called over. 

“What’s up?” He answered.

“Hey, it’s Waverly. I’ve got Lucas Grommet with me. He might not show up for a bit.” 

“Is he in trouble?” Mr. Morris asked with a sigh. 

“When’s he not?” She grumbled.

“Fair enough,” he mumbled. ”Alright. Thanks for the head’s up.” 

“No problem. Buh-bye.”

“Bye.”

Waverly hung the phone up and let out a raspberry, looking towards Nicole, who pushed off the wall. “What’re you doing here?” The brunette asked.

“I brought you lunch,” Nicole mumbled, shaking the bag in her hand a little. “What’s going on? You looked upset through the window on the door.” 

“Cause I am.” She let Nicole in as she turned around, closing the door behind them. She watched the way the Sheriff’s eyes rolled right as she walked in and saw who was sitting in the room, and that was all she needed to see to know Nicole had dealt with him before. “Grommet, you wanna tell Sheriff what you said? I’m sure she’d  _ love  _ to hear it.” 

Nicole tossed the bag of food onto Waverly’s desk, turning and straightening her posture with her arms crossed. “I sure would.” Lucas stayed quiet, slumping down further into his seat and flicking the hood of his hoodie over his head. “Uh-uh. Take your hood off,” she grumbled as she continued over towards him. 

_ “No.”  _

_ “What’d  _ you just say to me?” Nicole demanded, only relaxing when she felt a hand on her back. She looked down at Waverly, seeing that her soft glare was telling her to relax. The redhead let out a sigh, taking a seat on the top of the desk in front of him and putting her feet onto the seat of the chair. 

“C’mon, Lucas. Tell her what you decided was  _ appropriate  _ to say to me,” Waverly mumbled, moving to stand beside him. She reached out and grabbed the back of his hood with two fingers,  _ going  _ to gently slip it off his head, but Lucas shot up and gripped his hand around her wrist to stop her from doing so. 

Waverly’s eyes widened up at him in fear as he let out a snarl,  _ “Don’t touch me.”  _

Nicole slipped right between them and walked forward to force him back a step, leaning towards him enough that the desk slid back some with how much he was pressed against it. She hadn’t touched him once, but she was now eye to eye with him. “Don’t you  _ ever  _ grab a woman like that- Let  _ alone  _ one of your  _ teachers- _ Let  _ alone  _ my  _ wife.” _ He swallowed, eyes flickering between her clenched jaw and the anger in her eyes. “Are we clear?” 

“Yea,” he mumbled. 

She let out a low growl as she stepped back away from him. “Good. Now sit.” Lucas did so, and the Sheriff glanced towards Waverly. She gave her a little nod, assuring her that she was fine. Nicole flicked her eyes back towards Lucas. “Now tell me what you said.”

“Why do I have to?” He questioned.

“Cause I  _ said  _ so,” Waverly grumbled. 

Lucas scoffed, “Why’s it such a big deal?” 

Waverly glared at him. “Because you  _ said  _ it. Not only in general, but in  _ school,  _ in  _ my  _ classroom, directed at  _ me.” _

_ “Oh my God!  _ I call my friends fags  _ all  _ the time and they don’t care! It’s not  _ my  _ fault you’re a  _ snowflake! _ I call you a fag  _ once _ and you’ve gotta throw a hissy fit over it!” 

Nicole’s lip twitched and she reached up to her shoulder, tipping her head towards her radio with her eyes locked on him. “I need an additional unit at the grade school.”

“10-4, Sheriff,” Wagner called over. 

Waverly dropped her hand to Nicole’s arm, tipping her head at her.  _ “Nic-”  _

The redhead shook her hand off, nodding at Lucas, whose face was a little paler than it had been before. “Get up.” 

“What? Are you gonna arrest me?”

She raised her brows at him. “Stand up and find out.” Lucas let out a mutter under his breath, pushing out of the chair. Nicole noticed how his hand had drifted right to his left pocket when he had stood. “Empty your pockets,” she ordered, tapping her finger on the desk. 

He huffed, reaching into them and pulling a mechanical pencil out of one, tossing it onto the desk. “I don’t got nothin’.” 

Nicole’s eyes narrowed, and she was about to say something, but Waverly cut her off.  _ “All  _ your pockets.” 

Lucas pulled his sweatpants pockets out, wiggling them around. “These are the only  _ fucking  _ pockets I’ve got!” 

_ “Watch  _ your mouth,” Nicole growled, getting another eye roll from him. 

“I mean  _ all  _ your pockets, as in the basketball shorts you’ve got on under those, too,” Waverly said with a cross of her arms. 

Lucas flicked his wide eyes towards her, and Nicole raised her brows a little, hiding a grin as she looked back towards him. “Do it.” 

He pursed his lips, looking between them for a few seconds before begrudgingly doing so. He reached into his right shorts pocket and pulled some money and his phone out (that  _ should  _ have been in his locker), setting it on the desk before reaching in the other and pulling a vape and a dab pen out. “They’re not mine.” 

Nicole raised a bored brow at him, leaning over the desk and flipping the vape over. “Well, you’re underage  _ and  _ on probation, so you definitely can’t have these in your possession  _ anyway. _ Also, the Puff Bar has your initials Sharpied on it, so . . .” 

Lucas clenched his jaw. “It’s empty.” 

“Oh, is it now?” She questioned, grabbing it off the desk and wiping the top off on her shirt. “You’re carrying around an empty vape?” Nicole leaned back against the desk and took a short puff off of it. 

Waverly ripped it out of her hand with a huff when Nicole pulled it away from her mouth.  _ “Absolutely  _ not.” 

Nicole blew the smoke out over her head, hooking her thumb on her belt as she looked down at her. “Watermelon.” She flicked her eyes toward Lucas. “Also,  _ not  _ empty.” 

The redhead’s radio fizzed on her shoulder, and she tipped her head towards it. “I’m in the parking lot, Sheriff,” Wagner called over.

“Come in, grab the principal, and head down to the jr. high wing,” she ordered, letting go of the radio and grabbing the cash, his phone, and the two vapes with one hand and his upper arm with the other. “My deputy and Mrs. Burke are gonna go check out your locker to see what you sold for this wad of cash, and  _ then  _ you’re going up to the station ‘cause I  _ know  _ they’re gonna find something.” Nicole gave him a tight smile, tugging on his arm a little. “Let’s go.” For a second, it looked like he was going to resist it, but he let out a sigh and complied, allowing her to pull him out of Waverly’s room. 

The brunette let out a shaky sigh, walking over to her desk and taking a seat on the side of it. She pushed her fingers through her hair, dropping her elbows to her knees. A few minutes passed and she hadn’t heard Nicole come back into the room, so when she dropped her hands to the outside of Waverly’s thighs, the brunette jumped with a gasp. “Hey,” Nicole said softly, running her hands up and down her legs a few times. “It’s alright.” 

Waverly let out a short breath, sitting back. “Why’d you have to do that?” She mumbled.

“Do what?” Nicole asked with a furrowed brow.

“Just . . . all of that. He’s a _seventh-grader_ , Nicole.” 

The redhead tipped her head. “He’s 15, so  _ technically  _ he should be a freshman. Also, he’s a  _ criminal.” _

“Ok, he  _ vapes.  _ Literally  _ half  _ of my students do. We bust them on it every day. That’s- He’s a  _ child.”  _

“A  _ child  _ who’s got a juvenile rap sheet full of  _ drug  _ and  _ assault  _ charges. I mean, look.” She grabbed her hand and pushed the sleeve of Waverly’s cardigan up, running her thumb over the red on her wrist from Lucas’ grip. “He did this to you and didn’t even  _ care,  _ Baby . . . I’ve arrested him before and I’m  _ sure  _ I’ll do it again.”

Waverly shook her head, dropping her chin to her chest. Nicole’s face saddened when she watched a few tears drop down onto her lap. “I just . . .” The Sheriff gently tipped her head up to get her to look at her. “I wish there was another way.” 

Nicole let out a sigh, rubbing her thumb across her cheekbone a few times with a slow shake of her head. “You can’t save them all, Love.” Waverly’s lip wobbled, and the redhead dropped her hand from her face when her wife wrapped herself around her top half, crying into her shoulder. Nicole hugged her arms around her middle, sliding her hand up and down her back. “I know,” she mumbled. “It’s hard.” 

Waverly sat back after calming herself down after a minute, wiping her face with her sleeves. She let out a breath, shaking her head again. “What’s gonna happen now?”

“With him?” Nicole asked softly, moving her hands to rest on the tops of her thighs. Waverly nodded, dropping her hands to rest on her’s. “Well . . . it depends on what they find in his locker. I assume it's just vapes,  _ maybe  _ pot. That’s what he usually has. This is the first time I’ve seen him with a dab pen, so maybe he’s selling those, too, now. I’m not sure . . . If it's just something like that, I assume he’s just going to get  _ more  _ probation and community service and  _ probably  _ get sent to the alternative school a few towns over. He  _ should  _ be there already, but the school gave him one more shot, so.” She let out a sigh, rolling the wedding ring around on Waverly’s finger. “If it’s something worse . . . then who knows.” 

Waverly sniffled, shaking her head as she pushed her lashes up and wiped right under her eyes. “Situations like these, they just make me worry about, like- God,  _ fucking  _ everything. Like if there’s something mentally or emotionally that’s causing his issues. If he’s having problems at home. If he just wants attention. There’s just . . . so many things that people could help him with, but . . .” 

“But no one can help him if he won’t put the effort in to be better,” Nicole said softly. “I thought the  _ same  _ thing. The first time I picked him up . . . it was the beginning of last year and he got caught trying to steal two beer cans out of the gas station. He shoved them in his jacket after he pulled them out of the cooler in the back and a person working saw him. I made him apologize, but when I put him in the car, I put him in the  _ front  _ seat. And  _ then  _ we ran up to McDonald’s and I got him some lunch and tried to get him to talk to me about it, but he  _ wouldn’t.  _ Even after that, I took him straight home. I didn’t log  _ anything.  _ He just . . . he doesn’t  _ care. _ Pearson hauled him in for underage drinking a  _ week  _ later, and that was his first charge.” Nicole shook her head again, almost at herself.

“You tried, Baby,” Waverly mumbled.

She let out a sigh, “I did. That’s all we can do.” Waverly nodded, flipping her hand over and giving the redhead’s a squeeze. Nicole gave her a little smile, but her brow slowly furrowed. “Wait . . . how’d you know he was wearing shorts under his sweatpants?” 

“His hoodie rode up when you had him pushed back against the desk and the red hem on them caught my eye,” she said with a shrug. 

“Ahh,” Nicole mumbled with a little smirk. “Alright, Detective Haught.” 

Waverly giggled, hooking her fingers of one hand on Nicole's belt and flicking her name tag with the other. “You wonder who I get it from.” 

“Ok, sure,  _ Valedictorian,”  _ Nicole mumbled. 

“Ok, sure,  _ top of her class at the academy,”  _ Waverly retorted with a raise of her brows. 

Nicole hummed, flicking her eyes towards the open door before leaning into a quick kiss. “We’re gonna have some Einstein babies- And one with your brains  _ and  _ looks?” She shook her head with a grin, squeezing the tops of the brunette’s thighs. “We’re in trouble.” 

_ “Big  _ trouble,” Waverly smiled. 

Nicole chuckled but paused, noticing how Waverly’s eyes started wandering distantly around the room as worry pushed back onto her face. “Hey.” She cupped her cheeks with both hands, tipping her head towards her. “What’s going on?” 

“Is . . .” Waverly chewed at her lip in thought for a few seconds before meeting her eyes again. “Is this some sort of dumb sign or something?”

Nicole cocked a brow. “What d’you mean?” 

“His . . . The day before our cryo tank gets here that has the stuff from our sperm donor,  _ Luke,  _ a kid named  _ Lucas  _ decides to say some nasty shit to me about who we are.” 

Waverly’s eyes flicked over Nicole’s face, and the Sheriff shook her head, sliding her hands down her shoulders. “No. It’s not a sign, Honey. It’s just a coincidence.”

“But-”

“You can’t think like that, Wave,” Nicole mumbled. “Everything’s gonna be alright. We’re gonna get our big ass liquid nitrogen tank thingy with the magic baby juice in it, I’m gonna put it in a turkey baster, and then I’m gonna shoot it all up in ya.  _ Boom. _ Baby.” 

Waverly let out a snort, shaking her head as the fit of giggles took over. “No!”

Nicole slipped her hands off her shoulders and began tickling her sides.  _ “Fuck _ the syringes, I’m using a turkey baster whether you like it or not.” 

She kicked her legs with a squeal, wiggling off her desk away from Nicole and shielding herself with her desk chair as she grabbed the bag of food that was sitting there. “What’d you bring me?” Waverly pulled the bag open, widening her eyes with a grin as she pulled the container of sweet and sour soup and the tiny jar of peanut butter out of the bag. “I feel  _ so  _ loved right now.”

The Sheriff drug a bean bag over towards her desk, grabbing her box of lo mein out of the bag and dropping down onto it. “I mean, my  _ goal  _ was just to make you happy before I told you I took Ali on a joyride in the Lambo earlier today.”

“You did  _ what?!” _ Nicole simply gave her an innocent dimpled smile, sucking a noodle into her mouth. Waverly rolled her eyes at her, dropping the peanut butter into the soup with a glare. “You’re gonna put me in cardiac arrest, Woman, I  _ swear.”  _

**Tuesday, September 1st, 2020 11:18 AM**

_ “Faster,  _ Cole!” Alice shouted from her stroller.

Nicole let out a huff, pulling the sunshade back so she could look down at her. “Dude, tell your mama that, not me. We’re going at a snail’s pace here.” 

Wynonna smacked Nicole’s arm from beside her as they continued jogging on the park trail. “Not all of us have to be in  _ cop shape _ like you, Haught Shot.” 

“You’re a  _ deputy,”  _ Dolls argued from in front of them. “C’mon, we’ve only got one more mile.”

“ _ Only  _ one more mile,” Wynonna muttered, picking up her pace to match Nicole’s. 

“I wanna _ play, _ Mama,” Alice whined. “Run faster.” 

“I’m gonna make  _ you  _ run, Child.” 

“No, you ain’t,” she huffed. 

Wynonna raised her brows at her. “Watch me.”

“Auntie Cole ‘n Uncle X telled you no,” Alice grumbled, crossing her arms. Wynonna pursed her lips, and Alice grinned a little.  _ “Mhm.”  _

Nicole shook her head at the two, and they continued on with their run. Unbeknownst to  _ them,  _ Nicole and Waverly had been doing a new  _ pre-baby  _ workout and diet plan together since they had started the process almost a month before. Waverly more so because she wanted to make sure she was in the best shape before getting pregnant while also taking prenatal vitamins  _ and  _ eating foods that were known for helping the process. Nicole was just doing it because she knew she had been slacking a little in the health department for a few months  _ and  _ she wanted to support her wife, of course.

Nicole was well aware she’d be gaining a few whenever Waverly got pregnant anyway, so she had decided she might as well knock off a couple now.  _ Maybe  _ she had also been going pretty hard with weights just for the fact that she knew it made Waverly go crazy, but that was her own little secret.

So  _ since  _ they were working out together, Nicole knew her and Waverly would be going on their after-dinner run  _ and  _ hauling their asses up to their gym upstairs right after (because Waverly established that  _ work-out days  _ were Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays), but she didn’t mind getting a little extra cardio in. Dolls had offered since they didn’t have work at all, and Nicole figured she could bribe Wynonna by telling her they could get food afterward to join them, so here they were.

“Ali, should we lose your mama?” Nicole asked with a grin, looking down at her as they rounded the last part of the trail. 

“Yea!” She shouted, leaning forward and looking back at her mother who was a couple of steps behind the redhead. 

_ “Haught,  _ don’t you dare-”

“Dolls, let’s go!” Nicole laughed, raising her speed to a sprint beside him, the both of them leaving Wynonna in their dust as they finished off the rest of their run, coming to a stop near where they had started. 

_ “Guys!”  _ Wynonna whined, running faster after them. 

Alice let out a happy giggle, bouncing around in her jogger stroller. “Out! Out!”

Nicole chuckled, sitting down on the bench and turning it around, unbuckling her and lifting her out of it. “There ya go.” 

“Thank you,” she smiled before turning and dashing up the path a little towards Wynonna, jumping up and down, making the hood of her bear jacket flop around on her head. “C’mon, Mama! You can! You can!” 

The brunette let out a loud groan, picking up the pace for a few seconds to get to her daughter, scooping her up as she passed and slowing down before coming to a stop in front of Dolls and Nicole.  _ “Assholes.” _

_ “Shh,”  _ Alice said, putting her hands over her mother’s mouth. “Aunt Wavey says dat’s a nono word.” 

Nicole let out a snort at the annoyed glare Wynonna shot her. “Hey,  _ one  _ of us has to teach her all that.”

Wynonna looked back at her daughter, nudging her hands from her face. “Next time you see your Aunt Wavey, make sure to tell her she’s a dick trumpet, alright?”

Nicole and Xavier both threw her a look.  _ “Wyn-”  _

“A dick trumpet?” Alice repeated with a tip of her head.

Wynonna nodded, kissing her face before setting her on the ground. “Yep!” 

“M’kay,” she smiled. “Can we play now?” She looked out at the playground beside them. 

_ “Heck yea!” _ Nicole took off for the main playset, jumping up the stairs and hearing the giggle and little feet quickly running after her. 

“Cole, make me tall!” Alice shouted, jumping up and down by the monkey bars attached to it. 

“Yes, Ma’am!” The redhead hopped off the structure and walked out in front of her, She waited for the little one to jump to grab the first bar, catching her and lifting her up towards it. “Dude, look at you go!” She grinned as she walked her towards the other side of the playset that was attached to the opposite end, Alice grabbing each bar they passed. 

“I so good! Mama,  _ look!” _

“Yea, Kid, I’m watching!” Wynonna said, laying on her back and staring up at the sky as she continued to try and catch her breath. Dolls kicked her shin with a scoff from his spot on the bench, and she huffed, lifting her head to  _ actually _ watch her daughter.  _ “Wow, _ you’re a speed demon on those, Ali.” 

“Ima speed demon!” She echoed, allowing Nicole to set her down on the structure and climb up beside her. “I wanna go down the slide. Uncle X, take me down the slide!” 

He lifted his head from looking at his phone, raising his brows at her. “I can’t fit down that slide,” he said with a small smile. 

“Yea-huh! You’re not  _ that  _ fat!” She shouted back. 

Dolls’ mouth fell open in offense and Nicole let out a bark of a laugh, looking down at her. “Why can’t I take you down the slide?”

“Cause  _ always  _ you take me,” she whined.  _ “Uncle X!”  _

_ “Ok,” _ he groaned, pushing off the bench and walking over to them. “I’m coming.” 

“Oh, I’ve gotta see this,” Wynonna grinned, getting up off the ground and taking her phone out of her pocket.

Nicole hopped off the playset and walked over to Wynonna with a shitty grin, shoving her hands in her jogger pockets as she watched Dolls’ grab her hand and allow her to lead him to the slide. “This is gonna be good,” she mumbled.

“Oh  _ please,  _ playground Gods, make him hit his head,” Wynonna whispered, lifting her phone and hitting record once he sat down and pulled her onto his lap. They both grinned wide when he pushed them down the green twisty slide, Dolls cheering the whole way down and coming out the end with a huge smile on his face. Wynonna snickered evilly as she shut the recording off, catching the glare he was shooting her now. He scooted towards the very end, setting a giggly Alice down in front of him before climbing off,  _ banging  _ his head on the top of the plastic slide. 

_ “Ow,”  _ he grunted, ducking some more and rubbing it as he stood up. 

“God  _ damnit!  _ Right when I stop filming!” Wynonna whined. 

Alice pouted her lip up at him, doing grabby hands. “Gimme, I kiss it better.” 

Dolls sighed, sitting back down on the very end of the slide and leaning forward so she could do so. Alice put her hands over his ears and pressed a gentle kiss to the top of his head, smiling as she tipped his head up and gave his cheek a pat. “All better.” 

Nicole smiled at the two, pausing and taping her hands on all of her pockets when she heard her phone ringing. She pulled it out, almost falling over when Alice grabbed her and Wynonna by the hand, pulling them towards the stairs again. “Hold on-” Nicole put the unknown number on speaker, allowing her to continue pulling them along. “Sheriff Haught.” 

“Hi, Sheriff,” the woman on the other end answered. “It’s Penny from the Post Office. I was just giving ya to let ya know we just received your sper-” 

Nicole let out a loud cough to mask the voice on the phone, quickly letting Alice’s hand go and fumbling her phone to her ear. “Sorry, what was that?” She asked as she walked to the other end of the playset. 

“Your sperm donor tank,” Penny repeated. “They tried to deliver it to your house, but no one was home.” 

Nicole rubbed her forehead with a sigh. She had  _ completely  _ forgotten that they had ordered it when they  _ did  _ because they  _ knew  _ Nicole would be home to sign off on it that day, but she had gone and fucked that up. “Uh, alright. I’m . . . busy now, but I’ll try to run by and pick it up later.” 

“Alrighty. Sounds great. We’ll see you then.” 

“Yep,” Nicole sighed. “And, uh, Penny?” She lowered her voice a little. “You don’t know anything about that, ok?” 

“Oh, trust me, Sheriff. I won’t say a  _ word,”  _ she promised. 

Nicole smiled, dropping her hand to her side. “Ok, thank you.” 

“No problem,” she replied. “I wish you and Waverly the best of luck.” 

“Aw, thank you,” Nicole mumbled. 

“You’re welcome. We’ll see ya when you come pick it up.” 

“Yup, see ya then,” Nicole said before pulling the phone from her ear and hanging it up. She pushed it back into her pocket and let out a breath, turning back towards the trio.

“Who was that?” Wynonna asked as she watched Dolls do some pull-ups on one of the bars with Alice hanging off him with her arms around his neck. 

Nicole shrugged, walking over to her and crossing her arms as she watched the two. “Nobody.” 

“Well, to  _ me,  _ it sounded like  _ Penny from the Post Office,”  _ Wynonna said mockingly. “What, you and Wave order a new sex toy or something?” 

“Something like that,” the redhead mumbled with a little smirk. 

“Wait,  _ really? _ Ew, I was  _ joking.”  _

Nicole chuckled, “Gotta mix things up sometimes, ya know?”

Wynonna let out a gag, walking down the stairs of the structure and heading over to Dolls when he dropped off the bar. “You can spare me, Haught Shit.” 

**Friday, September 4th, 2020 8:33 PM**

“Noo,” Waverly whined softly with a pouted lip.

“I gotta get up, Baby,” Nicole said with a chuckle, shifting underneath her on the couch. 

_ “Noo.” _ The brunette snuggled more into her chest and tugged the blanket over them some more. “One more episode.” 

The two had been binging Criminal Minds basically since Waverly had gotten off of work, and Nicole had run out of water about three episodes before. She let out a sigh as she ran her hand up and down Waverly’s back. “I’ll be back. I just need a drink.” Waverly let out a grunt, pressing her face into her neck. “Fine. We’ll do it the hard way.” Nicole slid her hands down and hooked around Waverly’s legs, pulling her knees onto either sides of her legs and pressing a hand against her back as she sat them up. 

_ “Nic,”  _ Waverly whined. 

Nicole threw her legs over the side of the couch, hooking Waverly’s feet behind her back.  _ “Up,”  _ she said as she stood, hauling the brunette up with her. Waverly looped her arms around her neck, attaching herself to her like a koala as Nicole walked into the kitchen and pulled the fridge open, slowly bending to grab the jug of chocolate milk. She set it on the island and dropped Waverly on it, tapping her thighs to coax her off. “C’mon, Sweetheart. I need a cup.” 

“My baby,” she mumbled, staying glued to her front. 

Nicole let out a loud sigh, though she had a smirk on her face. “Alright then.” Nicole grabbed the carton and untwisted the cap, drinking  _ straight  _ from the container. 

Waverly lifted her head, releasing the chokehold on her wife just to smack her as she pulled it from the redhead’s mouth. “Stop! That’s  _ nasty!”  _

_ “Well!”  _

Waverly glared at her. “Do you know how much  _ bacteria  _ is on that? You’re gonna get sick.”

“If I’m gonna die, drinking chocolate milk seems like a good enough cause for it.” Nicole grabbed for the jug, but Waverly pushed it away from her. “I’m  _ getting  _ a cup,” Nicole assured, pulling away from her and grabbing one out of the dish rack. “Murdered by wife doesn’t sound as much of a fun way to die.” 

“Oh, I’ll make sure it’s  _ not,”  _ she grumbled with a smirk, pushing off the counter and pointing to the TV. “I’m going to the bathroom. Don’t start it without me unless you want the next killer on there to decide how you go.” 

Nicole widened her eyes at her, and Waverly giggled a little as she turned down the hallway. The Sheriff shook her head, pouring her drink and shoving the container back into the fridge. She headed back into the living room and plopped down on the couch, digging her phone out of her shorts pocket and grinning down at the pictures Jeremy had sent her from when he and Robin had run by the house earlier to groom both of the cats. 

Because apparently Robin could do that for _whatever_ reason. 

He had taken enough hair off of Calamity to make a brand new one, and they learned  _ just  _ how much Geronimo  _ loved  _ baths. She knew Waverly would  _ swoon  _ over the pictures they got of him swimming around in the tub. 

Speaking of.

_ "Nicole!" _ Waverly shrieked after a minute, running out of the bathroom. 

The redhead jumped, her phone flying out of her hand just as fast as she flew off the couch, quickly moving towards her with a worried brow.  _ "What?- _ What's wrong?" 

She let out a giggle, holding up the tests. "My OPKs are positive!" 

Nicole’s face relaxed and she grinned, taking the two ovulation tests from her hand and looking down at them for a moment. The smile slowly fell from her face as she looked up at her. "Wait- Does that mean we're doing it  _ tonight?"  _

"I mean, technically you're not gonna  _ do  _ me, but . . . I guess so." 

The redhead shot her a look but smiled, leaning into a kiss. "I get to maybe get you pregnant?" 

"No maybes," the brunette huffed, snatching the tests back. "Good mojo, remember?" 

Nicole nodded. "Right, sorry. I get to get you pregnant because I  _ know  _ it'll work first-try." 

Waverly smiled, pressing another kiss to her lips. "Much better." 

The redhead let out a slightly unsteady breath. "Ok . . . You go get things ready in there, I'm gonna get the vial out of the cryo tank so it can start warming up." 

The brunette nodded, turning from the living room and heading towards the bedroom to do so. Nicole grabbed a pair of her work gloves and went to the bathroom, staring down at the large box on the floor. She let out a breath as she popped the top of the container and opened it up, raising her brows when she saw the actual tank. She popped the zip-tie on the side and opened the lid, following the instructions she had engraved into her head from all the videos they had been watching over the past month. 

Nicole carefully set the  _ tiny  _ little plastic vial on the sink once she got it out and closed the tank and box up, grabbing the vial and bringing it into the bedroom. "Ok, I've got the baby juice." 

Waverly scrunched her face at her as she piled some pillows up towards the middle of the bed. "Stop calling it that." 

"Why?" She laughed as she carefully set it down on the nightstand by everything else the brunette had gotten out already. 

_ " Because! _ . . . That's weird." 

"It's what it is!" Nicole defended, taking her gloves off and setting a timer for 15 minutes on her phone. She wandered over to the lights and dimmed them some, smirking a little as she walked back over to Waverly, slipping her arms around her waist from behind her. "You ready for this, Baby?" She asked quietly near her ear. 

She leaned back against her, looking up at her with a small smile. "I hope so." 

Nicole pressed a kiss to the corner of her jaw, tightening her grip around her body. "Everything'll work out," she assured, walking her lips down her neck as she slowly turned her around. "Right?" She met her eyes as she rolled her thumb down her lip. 

"Are you trying to turn me on, Sheriff?" Waverly asked with a tiny smirk as her eyes fell to Nicole's slightly parted lips.

"I am," she mumbled, her hand slipping down to cup the side of her neck. 

The brunette nodded, letting out a breath as she slipped her hands up the front of her grey tye-dyed hoodie and traced her thumbs over her abs. "It's working." 

Nicole chuckled, walking them forward and letting Waverly fall back on the bed. "Thought so." She met her lips when she landed on top of her, rolling her hips forward. 

Waverly let out a soft moan. "Yep, definitely working." 

"I'm good at what I do," Nicole mumbled before leaning back in. 

Waverly hooked a leg over her hip, sliding one of her hands into her hair to pull her closer. Nicole dropped more of her body weight onto her as she slipped her tongue through her lips. "Off," Waverly mumbled, tugging up on her hoodie. 

Nicole sat up and pulled it off herself, grabbing the brunette's hands and splaying them out over her abs as she tightened them. Waverly let her head fall back, sliding her nails down her stomach before slipping her hands to her sides and pulling her back down, her thumb tracing over the wave tattoo on her ribcage as she met her lips. The redhead rolled them over after a minute, slipping her hand right up her back and unclasping her bra before tugging up on her shirt. Waverly pulled it off, tossing her bra across the room with a grin. "Greedy, Sheriff?" 

"Nah," she mumbled, flipping them again. "I just want more playground." Waverly's eyes widened at her, and she grinned slyly as she dipped her head, dropping kisses down her neck as she slowly began sliding down her body. She pushed her hand through Waverly's hair to keep her head back as she nipped at her collarbone, growling when the brunette gripped her nails into her wrist with a soft whimper. Nicole looked up at her when she slid her tongue over it to smooth it over. "Well, that was cute." 

Waverly threw her a look, pressing her thigh up in between her legs and watching how she swallowed roughly. _ "Nothing?" _ She let out a huff as she flipped them over and sat up, resting her hands on her stomach. "That's no fun."

Nicole sat up, cupping her hands over her ass and pulling her flush against her front. "You know what  _ will _ be fun?" 

"Hm?" She mumbled in question, the lips wrapped around her nipple having somewhat of a Little Mermaid effect on her. 

"A tiny, screaming newborn at 3 AM every night,” the redhead smirked as she nipped once at her chin. 

Waverly let out a snort, looping her arms around her neck. “That  _ will  _ be fun.” 

“Right? And diapers? I love those, too.”

“Oh, do you? I’ll let you take care of them then,” the brunette smirked. 

Nicole shook her head as she leaned into a kiss. “No, thanks.” 

Waverly pulled back with a huff, “What d’you mean  _ no thanks? I’m  _ the one who’s gonna push our  _ child  _ out of my hoo-ha.”

“And  _ I’m  _ the one who’ll have to deal with pregnant, hormonal Waverly for nine months,  _ so.” _

_ “Hey!” _ She whined in offense.    


“If having been around Wynonna while she was preggo tells me  _ anything _ , I need to fear for my life.”

Waverly smiled, pushing her hands through her hair gently. “Oh, Honey.” She pulled it taut, making Nicole’s head tip back and her eyes widen as she looked up at her. “You should  _ already  _ be fearing for your life every day anyway.” 

Nicole smiled to hide the fear on her face. “Yes, Dear.” 

The brunette hummed, leaning back down into a kiss, and Nicole chuckled, palming her ass as she leaned them back on the bed.

They killed time screwing around for the remainder of the 15-minute timer, both of them jumping when the alarm went off. Nicole let out a grunt, reaching for her phone and shutting it off as she looked up at Waverly hovering above her. “You ready for this?” She asked gently. 

The brunette let out a breath, shaking her head with a laugh. “I guess I’m gonna have to be.” 

Nicole grinned wide, pressing one last kiss to her lips before rolling her off her lap and moving off the bed. She grabbed Waverly’s legs and drug her towards her, pulling her shorts and underwear off of her and tossing them to the floor. “Get up there,” she said, pointing to the pillows. 

Waverly let out a grunt as she shifted her butt up onto the pillows so her hips were elevated. “Get the- yea.” 

The Sheriff looked towards her with a small huff as she screwed the pre-seed lube onto the syringe.  _ “I know,  _ Baby. I’ve got it. I just set the timer again, too.” Waverly let out another breath, nodding and watching Nicole squeeze some of it into the syringe, untwisting the bottle and tossing it back onto the nightstand. She walked around and climbed back up on the bed, sitting in between her legs and dropping one hand to her thigh. “Relax, Waves,” she mumbled. “I know what I’m doin’. I watched those videos a  _ million  _ times, so I feel like an expert on this now.” 

Waverly laughed a little, letting her head rest back against the blanket she had pulled under it.  _ “Ok.  _ I’m good.” 

“You really are,” Nicole mumbled, spreading her folds a little with her thumb and dragging it through the wetness pooling inside. 

“Nic, c’mon. We’re supposed to be going already.” 

Nicole flicked her eyes up to her with a tip of her head and a little smirk, grabbing her right hand. “You’ve got fingers, don’t you?” 

Waverly threw her a look as the redhead made her fingers press against her clit. “But that’s not as  _ fun,” _ she grumbled, rolling them around in slow, lazy patterns. 

“For me, it is,” she grinned, licking her lips as she watched her hand for a second before snapping out of it. 

_ “Pervert,” _ Waverly said under her breath. 

“I prefer the term  _ admirer,”  _ Nicole corrected, pushing the syringe into her and inserting the lube. Waverly rolled her eyes at her as Nicole crawled off the bed and set it down, moving back towards her and dropping down beside her, shifting to lay on her side and smirking as she leaned in closer to meet Waverly’s lips. “Or  _ lover  _ maybe.” Nicole slid her hand down the inside of her thigh, running her thumb over the back of her hand and taking over with what she had been doing.  _ “Possibly  _ even baby momma.” 

Waverly pulled from her lips, raising her brows at her. “We all know when Wynonna figures out how we did this she’s gonna call you my baby daddy.” 

Nicole let out a groan in annoyance.  _ “Can’t wait.”  _

Waverly chuckled, hooking her hand around the back of her neck and pulling her into a gentle kiss.  _ “I’m  _ gonna stick with calling you my partner in crime.” She slid her hand around to Nicole’s cheek, rubbing her thumb over the dimple that popped out. “Cause there isn’t  _ anybody  _ I could imagine doing this with but you.” 

Nicole dropped a kiss to the side of her face. “Though it scares me bringing another  _ Earp  _ into this fucked up world, I’m glad we’re doing this . . .  _ together.”  _

Waverly shook her head. “I’m not-”

_ “You’re  _ an Earp, Wave. Maybe not by blood, but . . . trust me,  _ everything  _ else checks out.” 

“Are you implying I share similar  _ difficult  _ traits with Wynonna?” Waverly questioned with a raised brow. 

“. . .  _ And  _ Ali,” Nicole mumbled.

Waverly glared at her, grabbing her face and pulling her into a kiss, biting down on the redhead’s lip and getting a hiss out of her as she pulled away. “Less talking, more edging.” 

“You’re not supposed to-” 

_ “You know what I mean,”  _ she groaned, grabbing Nicole’s face and pulling her back into a kiss.

The two continued with that until the timer went off again, and Waverly let out a small whimper when Nicole’s hand pulled away from her, much like she had the previous times when she had gotten too close to the barrier before the edge and the Sheriff had done the same thing. Nicole rolled over and grabbed the vial off the nightstand, handing it to Waverly once she flipped back over. Waverly wrapped as she wrapped her hand around it to start getting it to her body temperature, and Nicole let out a shaky breath as she met her eyes after setting another alarm  _ once again _ . “Ok, yup, scared now.” 

Waverly swallowed, “Me, too.” She smiled a little. “We’ve got this, though.” 

Nicole nodded with a smile to match her’s. “If  _ Wynonna  _ can keep a tiny human alive, so can we.” 

“That’s mean,” Waverly mumbled. Nicole tipped her head at her. “Also _ true. _ But mean.” The redhead chuckled, nudging her legs further apart as she slipped her hand back down there, tracing over her clit again. “Not a lot, Baby,” Waverly breathed out, gripping her free hand around her wrist. “I’m, like, almost in the danger zone there.” 

She lightened her touch, raising her eyes up to look at her. “Better?” 

The brunette nodded, leaning her head back against her blanket pillow and biting her lip. “Gotta keep thinking  _ baby  _ thoughts.” 

Nicole smiled gently, pressing some soft kisses to her shoulder. “How about how ginger Julian genes plus ginger sperm daddy  _ plus  _ your ginger wife sprinkling magic redhead dust on you equals a maybe leprechaun baby?”

_ “God,  _ I wanna little redhead,” she said with a giggle. “I’d be perfect without one, too, but . . . that’d just be a cherry on top.” 

Nicole snorted, “Haha,  _ cherry on top.” _

“Would ya  _ look  _ at that,” Waverly smiled, her hips jumping into her hand with a quiet moan. “Involuntary redhead jokes.” 

Nicole let out a hum, pushing her fingers through Waverly’s hair to get some out of it out of her face. “I told you. Magical redhead dust.” 

The brunette shook her head at her, pulling her into another kiss for a few seconds before Nicole’s phone went off.  _ “Finally,  _ ok.” 

The Sheriff sat up some, grabbing the vial from her and bringing Waverly’s hand down so she could continue on for her. “Keep yourself there,” she said as she pushed off the bed. 

Waverly canted her hips a little as she did so, letting out an unsteady breath as she watched Nicole stand there for a second or two just staring down at the container. “You’ve got it, Baby. It’s ok.” 

The redhead looked towards her, swallowing with a nod as she uncapped it and grabbed the skinnier needless syringe of the two, slowly pulling the contents into it from the vial. She got as much of it as she could before setting the vial down on the nightstand again and moving back in between Waverly’s legs. “Ok . . .” Nicole slowly inserted it into her after pushing the air bubbles out, poking her tongue out of her lips a little for a few seconds as she tried to find the brunette’s cervix with it, watching Waverly’s hips twitch when she felt herself touch something with the tip of it. 

_ “There,” _ they both said at the same time. 

“Sorry,” Nicole mumbled, drawing the syringe back some.

Waverly grabbed Nicole’s free hand, pressing her thumb against her clit to replace her own fingers. “Baby, I  _ need  _ to come or I’m gonna fucking pass out.” 

The Sheriff looked up at her, smirking a little before pouting her lip. “Oh, poor baby.” 

“I’ve had to  _ edge  _ for, like,  _ eight million hours.”  _

“You mean not even 30 minutes?” She corrected. “I think you can go another couple-”

_ “Nicole,  _ I will do it myself,” she groaned, her face to her chest flushed dark red. 

Nicole grinned, leaning down to press a kiss to the inside of her thigh as she added pressure with her thumb and began to quickly roll it around. Waverly’s hands tightened into the blanket under her head with a stifled moan and the redhead continued to watch her face, licking her lips as she brought the thumb of the hand on the syringe up to the plunger in preparation. 

Waverly’s mouth fell open and her eyes closed. “I’m gonna-  _ Go, _ Baby.  _ Now.” _ Nicole began slowly pushing the plunger in, grinning a little when her back snapped towards the ceiling with a moan when she reached her climax. One of Waverly’s hands shot out to grab her arm, and she dug her nails into it when Nicole didn’t slow the roll of her thumb as she came down after a couple more seconds. 

The redhead pulled her hand away from the syringe, leaving it in and leaning forward over her to catch her lips as she flipped her hand around and took over with her other fingers. “One more time,” she muttered against her mouth, feeling Waverly’s nails tearing down her back when she sped up her roll. She let out a cry into Nicole’s mouth when it hit again, Nicole’s legs pressing her thighs down keeping her hips from bucking too hard. 

_ “Oh my God, Nic-” _ Waverly cut herself off with a strangled groan, feeling her eyes go back with her third orgasm, arching her front  _ high  _ up into her. 

“Maybe I lied,”Nicole mumbled with a chuckle, pressing her back down into the bed. She finally slow her finger to bring her down before pulling her hand away from her clit and scooting back to Waverly’s side. 

“Holy fuck,” Waverly breathed out after a minute when she was alive again. 

“Welcome back, Cutie,” Nicole smiled, sliding her hand across her stomach and feeling Waverly grab it to interlock their fingers.

“That . . . That was good, Baby. Good job.” 

“Why, thank you,” she chuckled, pressing a kiss to her cheek before sitting up. She shifted back and opened her legs a little, meeting Waverly’s eyes as she slowly pulled the syringe out with her face scrunched up. “The thought of  _ dude cum _ being anywhere near me makes me wanna puke.”

Waverly rolled her eyes. “It’s not cum, you  _ lesbian.” _

_ “Close enough  _ to it,” she huffed as she dropped it on the same paper towel on the nightstand that the other syringe was on. She grabbed the soft cup package and opened it up, smearing some more pre-seed all over the inside before capping the lube container and dropping back in between Waverly’s legs.  _ “Tacofy,”  _ Nicole mumbled as she squeezed the sides of the plastic rim, making the cup into more of a, well, taco shape. Waverly rolled her eyes again, and the redhead dropped one hand to her lower abdomen, pushing the cup into her with the other and getting it into position around her cervix before pulling her hand back with a smile. “And  _ voila . . .  _ Now  _ that,  _ boys and girls, is how lesbians make a baby.” 

Waverly giggled, reaching out for her. “C’mere, you  _ dork.”  _

The redhead grinned, falling forward into her arms. “You love me.” 

Waverly nodded with a smile, cupping her cheeks and pulling her into a kiss. “To infinity and beyond.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First baby attempt is complete!  
> Now...We wait
> 
> Really tho, when I finish this fic, I should count how many times they've said to infinity and beyond cause I'm lowkey kinda impressed with myself lmao
> 
> I looked into ICI as much as I could, so hopefully I got most of it right lmao
> 
> Yell at me below :)


	4. Good Fur Baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nicole has a little TOO much fun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo it's Queef (I changed my username but whatever lol)  
> Whoops, it's been like 3 weeks since I posted, but this one is over 9k so I guess that makes up for it. I started school last month, so uploads for all my fics are gonna be slower sadly.  
> BUT ANYWAY  
> This chapter is basically a reflection of what kind of shit goes through my head all the time cause, trust me, it's a crackhouse up in there. So without further ado, here's the chap. Get to it!

**Saturday, September 2nd, 2020 12:48 PM**

Waverly pulled up to the house, having just gotten home from grading tests at the school. She let out a sigh as she pulled the keys out of the jeep, grabbing her purse off the seat and climbing out. 

_ “GERONIMO!”  _

Waverly’s brows shot straight up when she heard her wife’s yell, and she walked a little quicker towards the door, pushing it open and feeling her jaw drop as she watched Nicole dive  _ over  _ the couch. “What the  _ hell?”  _

Nicole’s head poked up over the top of the couch, sweat covering her face. “Get the fucking cat.” 

Waverly set her purse down on the bench by the door and shrugged her coat off, hanging it up. “Why? What’d he-” She paused when she saw a zip of grey and blue fly across the room out of the corner of his eye. “Oh my  _ God,  _ what  _ is  _ that?!” 

“He’s got a  _ cup  _ stuck on his head,” Nicole grumbled as she pushed off the floor and slowly moved towards where he had just hit the wall by the TV. 

“A  _ cup!? _ How?!” 

“I don’t  _ know!  _ He slammed into a wall and that’s when I noticed it, and he won’t-” she grabbed for him, but he dashed in the other direction, “let me help him!” 

“Oh, Baby, he’s gonna hurt himself,” Waverly mumbled, walking over and sitting on the floor between the kitchen and the living room. “You’re scaring him.” 

“Yea, Wave, I tried that already and it didn’t work,” she huffed. 

“Just-” She looked up at her with pursed lips. “Shush for a sec. Let me try.” Nicole let out a sigh, sitting down on the couch. Waverly looked towards the cat as he pawed at the cup stuck on his head, sitting by the stereo by the stairwell. “MoMo, c’mere,” she said softly, clicking her tongue a few times and watching as he stopped pawing and turned his covered head towards her. “C’mere, Bud, it’s ok. I’ll get it off you.” The grey cat stood up on wobbly paws and stumbled in her direction, jumping back when she stuck her hand out and touched his side.  _ “Nope.”  _ She leaned forward and grabbed him before he could run away, holding him to her chest as he started to thrash around.  _ “Stopstopstop- _ Nic.”

Nicole jumped off the couch and sat down in front of her, grabbing ahold of Geronimo’s body and keeping him still as Waverly pulled at the cup on his head. “Can you get it?” 

“Jeez, it’s  _ really  _ stuck.” She twisted the plastic cup back and forth a little, trying her best not to yank on his head as she tried to wiggle it off. It finally came loose with a pop, and they both let out a relieved breath. 

Nicole hugged him to her chest, and he immediately calmed down, looking around the room. “Don’t  _ do  _ that to me, MoMo,” she mumbled. 

“Are you ok?” Waverly said softly, scooting closer to them and gently taking his face in her hands. She undid his red collar and pulled it off, pushing his fur back to look at his skin and concluding that he didn’t really have any marks on him besides some redness. “You’re fine, Bubby,” she mumbled, rubbing her thumbs on his cheeks. “No more sticking your head in things, though.” 

“I sorry for yellin’ at you,” Nicole mumbled as she pressed a few kisses to his head. “You just scared me.” 

The cat let out a meow and purred as he rubbed against her chin, wiggling out of her arms and crawling into Waverly’s lap, laying down with his head on her thigh. She pouted her lip as she ran her hand down his side. “Well, now I’m never getting off the floor.” 

Nicole chuckled as she ran her thumb over his front foot, smiling up at her and leaning forward to press a peck to her lips. “You get everything done at the school?” 

“Yep,” she said with a smile. “Now my evening shall be unburdened by work.” She watched the way Nicole’s face fell as she looked away from her. “What?” 

She met her eyes, chewing her lip a little. “I, uh, I kinda wanted to go out with people tonight.” 

Waverly raised a brow. “Who’s  _ people?”  _

“Jeremy and Melody. She’s coming into Purgatory later and we all wanted to hang since it’s been a while.” 

Waverly smiled with a shake of her head, knowing that Nicole hadn’t spent time with her old work partner in a  _ long  _ time. “Then go, Baby. I don’t care.” 

“You sure?” She asked. “‘Cause if you-”

“Nic, you  _ never  _ go out and do things with people without me or Wynonna up your ass. Go. I’ll just find something else to do.” 

Nicole smiled a little, leaning forward to press another kiss to her lips before standing up off the floor. “If you say so.” 

Waverly sadly stood off the floor, abandoning Geronimo there as she followed her wife into the kitchen. “I’m hungry,” she murmured as she moved next to her at the fridge, wrapping around one of her arms. 

“Me, too,” Nicole mumbled as she leaned her hip against the opened door. “There’s that salad that’s gonna go bad if we don’t get to it soon . . . We could just throw that black bean taco stuff from last night in there with it?” 

Waverly hummed, patting her back. “Such a smart cookie.” She pulled off her arm and moved over to the cabinet, standing up on her toes as she pulled out two bowls and set them down on the island. 

Nicole tossed the  _ not-meat  _ taco meat in the microwave and fired it up, popping the lid on the salad and setting it down. “I want real cheese  _ and  _ sour cream in mine, so don’t put your weird stuff in the big bowl.” 

“It’s not  _ weird,”  _ Waverly argued with a whine. “It’s  _ vegan.”  _

“Yea.  _ Weird.”  _

She rolled her eyes, bumping her out of the way with her hip so she could grab her things out of the fridge first. “You like it, don’t even start.” 

“Not as much as  _ not  _ vegan stuff,” she mumbled, pulling the stuff out of the microwave when it beeped and quickly tossing the hot bowl onto the counter.  _ “Ow.”  _

“That’s what you get,” Waverly smirked, grabbing some salad with tongs and dropping it into Nicole’s bowl. 

_ “That’s what you get,”  _ Nicole mocked, sucking on her hot finger for a second before quickly grabbing the bowl again and dropping it on the island, shoving a spoon in it. She grabbed all the things from the fridge that she wanted and dropped it on the counter, smirking when Waverly rolled her eyes at her. “Don’t judge me.” She scooped the ‘meat’ into her bowl and dropped a handful of shredded cheese on top of it after crunching the tortilla chips into it. She put a dollop or two of sour cream before squirting some Taco Bell hot sauce packs on it and finishing it off with a spoonful of guac. 

“You’re a mess,” Waverly sighed, hopping up onto the chair and pulling her bowl in front of her. 

“I am, yea,” Nicole agreed, leaning forward against the counter in front of her as she shoved a bite into her mouth. 

“So,” Waverly said, slowly mixing her food around. “What’s your guys’ plan for tonight?” 

Nicole raised her brows at her, slowing her chewing. “Uh . . . Well, we’re probably gonna grab dinner somewhere- Shorty’s probably. Then . . . we’re gonna drink and . . . drink some more.” 

“Are you staying at Shorty’s all night?” Waverly asked, keeping her eyes on her as she pulled her legs up on the chair crisscross. 

Nicole shrugged. “We might head to Pussy Willows at some point, I dunno. Jeremy’s our DD.”

“Good, he’ll keep you two in line,” Waverly mumbled with a little smirk. 

Nicole chuckled, looking towards Geronimo when he hopped up onto the island. “Hi, Cup Head.” 

He sat down right in between them, and Waverly tipped her head at him. “You’re not allowed up here while we’re eating, Child. You know that.” 

“Aw, c’mon, he was traumatized by plasticware today, Babe. Let ‘em be.”

Waverly threw her a look but shook her head with a smile.  _ “Fine.”  _

Nicole grinned at her, grabbing a piece out of her salad and setting it in front of the cat. “Does him want a bean?” Geronimo sniffed at it, wacked it with his paw, and grabbed it when it slid across the counter before actually eating it. 

_ “Mm, _ bean,” Waverly smiled, scooping him up and setting him on her lap, letting him sit up on his back legs and lean back against her stomach like he always did. She shoved some more in her mouth before pointing at Nicole with her fork. “Don’t be dumb, ok? I know how you get sometimes.” 

“It's two cops and a  _ Jeremy,  _ how  _ dumb  _ could we get?” Nicole huffed. 

“Nic, I’m serious. Don’t overdo it. I’m  _ already  _ gonna be stressed knowing you’re out drinking and at  _ Pussy Willows, _ I don’t need to worry that you’ll pull a  _ Wynonna, _ too.”

“What, become a stripper?” Nicole asked with a snort. 

“Ok, that was mean,” Waverly mumbled, trying to hold a laugh down. 

“Mhm,” Nicole chuckled. 

“Really, though. If you need me to come and get you,  _ call me.  _ I’ll be there. Do  _ not  _ try and get yourself home, I swear.” 

“I  _ won’t,  _ Baby. I’d call you if I needed to, you know that.” 

“Ok,” Waverly mumbled, running her fingers up and down Geronimo’s stomach. “Good.” 

“So then what’re  _ you  _ gonna do tonight?” Nicole asked. 

“Probably go hang with Wynonna . . . I haven’t done anything with her in a bit.” 

“Fair enough,” Nicole nodded. “Ya gonna tell her I shoved a turkey baster up your hoo-ha last night?” 

“No!” Waverly laughed. “Quit calling it that!” 

“Why?!” 

“‘Cause that’s  _ weird! _ Also, we decided we  _ weren’t  _ telling anyone, remember?” 

“I do remember, yes.” She shoved another bite in her mouth, narrowing her eyes at her. “So, like . . .”

“What?” Waverly asked, raising a brow. 

“Do you, like . . . feel different now?” 

Waverly shook her head with a shrug. “No. I don’t think so.” Nicole let out a little hum. “I don’t think it’s gonna work  _ that  _ fast, Babe. It hasn’t even been 24 hours yet.” 

“But I want a baby!” she whined. 

“I  _ know,  _ I do, too,” Waverly mumbled with a smile, reaching across the counter and squeezing her hand. “We’ll get there, ok?”

She let out a dramatic sigh, stabbing a piece of lettuce a little too forcefully before shoving it into her mouth. “I know. I’m just . . .  _ impatient.”  _

Waverly chuckled with a shake of her head. “I feel like you’re gonna regret saying that one day.” 

Nicole smiled, glancing down at the cat that was still sitting on her lap. “You’re probably right, yea. Still, though.” She pushed off the counter and walked around to her side, spinning Waverly’s chair around and moving Geronimo to the chair next to her as she leaned down and pressed a kiss to her stomach. “Gimme a baby!” 

“Oh my God,” Waverly giggled, dropping her legs and looping her arms around her middle when she stood up straight. “I don’t think that’s how it works.” 

“You never know,” Nicole mumbled with a crooked smile. 

“You’re adorable,” Waverly said with a pouted lip, pulling her down into a kiss. “I love you.” 

“I love you, too.” Nicole pulled back, sliding her hand from the side of her jaw down her arm. “How come you always gotta look so cute?” she huffed, tracing her eyes from her lavender button-up with  _ tiny  _ white flowers on it to her black and white striped pants that the shirt was tucked into. 

“What d’you mean?” Waverly questioned, looking down at herself. “I always dress like this.” 

“Yea, I know. That’s why I said  _ always,”  _ Nicole chuckled. “You literally just had to go to the school for a few hours, yet . . . you’re still  _ all  _ dolled up.” 

“Hey, I also had to run to the bank with your work check  _ and  _ to the post office to drop off the tank thing.” 

_ “Oo,” _ Nicole mumbled, leaning into another quick kiss. “I’ve got  _ schmoney  _ in the bank now?” 

“Mnm,” Waverly grumbled, pulling her head back. “That doesn’t mean you get to have  _ too  _ much fun.” 

_ “Why?” _ Nicole whined. 

“Nic, I’m  _ serious,” _ Waverly huffed, her voice breaking a little. 

She furrowed her brows at her, dropping her hands to her thighs. “Hey, I’m messing with you,” she mumbled, rubbing her thumbs in patterns. “Talk to me.” 

Waverly let out a heavy sigh, sitting back in her chair and running her hands down her face. “I dunno . . . I just- I got a weird feeling when you first mentioned it.” She shook her head. “It’s probably nothing. I’m just-” she ran her hands down Nicole’s sides with a breathy sigh, “worried about my baby going out and me not being able to keep my eyes on her, is all.” 

Nicole pursed her lips a little. “. . . I don’t  _ have  _ to go-” 

“Stop, no.” Waverly quickly shook her head again as she met her eyes. “I want you to go. I just want you to be careful.” 

“We will, Honey,” Nicole assured with a soft smile. “I’ll call you if Jer’s not gonna take me home, ok? I promise.” 

She nodded, pressing a peck to her lips when she leaned down towards her again. "Alright." 

Nicole smiled, picking Geronimo up off the chair and pressing a kiss to his head before setting him back in Waverly's lap. "I sorry, I took you from Mommy."

Waverly grinned, scooping him up and cradling him in her arms. “Until we’ve got a  _ real  _ human baby, I guess MoMo’ll do.”

Nicole giggled, rubbing his stomach as she pressed another kiss to his face. “CJ’d scratch your face off if we tried to hold her like this, but MoMo’s a good fur baby.”

“Mhm,” Waverly mumbled, looking down at him with a smile as she held him closer. “Good fur baby.” 

**7:57 PM**

“Are you just gonna stay there?” Nicole asked, looking down at her wife, who was currently wrapped around her front, sitting on the sink in front of her as she fixed her hair in the mirror. 

“Yes,” Waverly confirmed, lifting her head from her neck to look at her and smiling innocently. “Until you have to leave.” 

Nicole chuckled, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Alright.” 

Waverly giggled, snuggling back into the front of her grey to white ombre long-sleeved shirt. Nicole sighed, pushing her fingers through her hair once more before hooking her hands under Waverly’s thighs and pulling her off the sink. She walked them into the living room and sat her on the back of the couch, sliding her hands to her hips. “You smell good,” Waverly mumbled, lifting her head again. 

“I just showered, so I’d hope so.” 

She hummed, propping her chin up on her chest. “When’re they getting here?”

Nicole checked the watch on her wrist, raising her brows as she looked up at her. “Any minute now.” Waverly pouted her lip at her, and she smirked as she rolled it down with her thumb. “You’ll be alright.” 

“If Wynonna doesn’t torture me then yea,” she mumbled.

Nicole chuckled, leaning into a quick kiss. “She probably will.” 

“You’re right,” Waverly groaned, dropping her forehead forward against her chest. Both of their heads turned towards the door when they heard two sets of banging against it. 

_ “NICKY NICKY NINE DOORS!”  _

_ “HAUGHT, GET YOUR GAY ASS OUT HERE! THERE IS BOOZE TO BE DRANK AND THEN VOMITED BACK UP TOMORROW!”  _

_ “NICOOOOOOOLE!” _

_ “C’MON! WE’VE GOTTA GET THEM STRIPPERS TO GRIND ON JEREMY!” _

_ “HEY!” _

_ “There might be a dude one, you never know.” _

_ “I HAVE A BOYFRIEND!”  _

_ “AND?”  _

_ “SHUT  _ UP, _ MEYER!- NICOLLLLE!” _

Nicole slowly pulled the door open, glaring at both of their dumb smiling faces. “May I help you?” 

Jeremy and Melody both grabbed her wrists, dragging her out of the house.  _ “C’mon!”  _ Melody groaned. “Took ya long enough.”

_ “Hold on,”  _ Nicole grumbled, pulling her arms back and turning back towards the door. She gave Waverly a smile, grabbing her hip as she leaned forward on one leg to press a kiss to her lips. “I love you.” 

“Love you, too,” Waverly smiled. “Be  _ careful.”  _ She looked pointedly towards all of them.  _ “All  _ of you.”

“We  _ will,  _ Waves,” Jeremy assured. 

“I will murder both of you with my bare hands if something happens to her, so fair warning.” 

Melody and Jeremy smiled nervously at her, and the blonde gave her a double thumbs-up as she walked down the porch steps. “Jeremy’s the sober one tonight, so if anything, it’s his fault.” 

“Good point.” Waverly looked towards his wide eyes. “Jeremy, I’ll murder you with my bare hands.” 

He slowly nodded, dragging Nicole along towards his car that was parked in front of their house. “10-4.” 

“Bye, Baby!” Nicole shouted, stumbling down the walkway towards the sidewalk with the speed Jeremy was dragging her.

“Bye,” she chuckled with a little wave, letting out a sigh with a smile and a shake of her head as she watched Melody and Nicole fight for the front seat, Nicole winning after winding her with an elbow to the gut. She waited for them to pull away before turning back inside and slipping her shoes on, sending a quick text to Wynonna to let her know she was on her way before heading out herself. 

**9:02 PM**

“Is she out?” Waverly whispered, peaking around the top of the stairs as Wynonna and Doc eased themselves out of Alice’s room, her sister silently pulling the door shut behind her.

_ “Finally,”  _ Wynonna grumbled, letting out a raspberry. The three had just spent the last 20 minutes trying to put the 3 year old to bed. She had woken up and got a little wound up when Waverly had gotten there and hadn’t wanted to go back to sleep after they had hung out for a bit. “You’d think that child would be dropping dead every night, but  _ nope.”  _

“I believe it is best that I retire for the evening, Ladies,” Doc sighed as he leaned back against the door of Wynonna’s room, wrapping his hand around the handle. “I shall leave you two to it.”

“Night, Doc,” Waverly said with a little smile.

“G’night, Darlin’,” he said with a tip of his hat before disappearing into the room. 

They both headed downstairs, and Wynonna rounded the bottom, heading into the kitchen and pulling the whiskey out of the cabinet. She took a swig as they walked into the living room, tapping Waverly's arm with it. 

"Mnm," she mumbled, dropping down onto the couch and pulling the blanket off the back of it, wrapping it around herself. 

"Live a little," Wynonna huffed. 

"No," she huffed. "I might have to go get Nic later tonight." 

Wynonna let out an annoyed groan, taking a swig for her. "Pussy." 

Waverly kicked her leg from the opposite end of the couch.  _ "Responsible."  _

"Same thing," Wynonna said with a roll of her eyes. "Anywho. What's been going on with you?- _ Hey!  _ That rhymed."

Waverly let out a sigh of annoyance. "What d'you mean?"

Wynonna shrugged, hitching one of her knees to her chest and setting the bottom of the whiskey bottle on it, holding the neck to keep it upright and propping her elbow on the back of the couch. “I dunno. What’s been happening in Waverly land?” 

She cocked a brow high. “Who took my sister? Since when does she care about my well-being?” 

“Hey,” Wynonna said with a little hurt in her voice. “I always care.” 

“I’m messing with you,” Waverly mumbled with a smile, nudging her leg with her foot. “We just don’t . . . talk about stuff as much as we used to, I guess.” 

“We’re both, like . . .  _ adults  _ now. We have jobs ‘n you’ve got married stuff and I’ve got a rugrat to deal with.” She sighed as she took another pull of the whiskey. “I guess we just don’t have time to do this a lot anymore.”

Waverly nodded in agreement, pouting her lip. “I miss it.” 

Wynonna smiled a little. “Me, too. I used to love Babygirl therapy sessions.”

She giggled a little, leaning her head against the side of the couch. “This might be a long session. You’re long overdue.” 

“Oh, so are you, Kid.”

Waverly let out a sigh, raising her brows as she looked past her at the wall behind her, trying to think about the last time she actually talked about things going on with her and her life with anyone but Nicole. Sometimes it was nice to have another different perspective on things. “I really am.” 

“Alright,” Wynonna said, resituating a little bit. “Go. Gimme the goods.” 

Waverly let out a breath in thought, almost not noticing how her hand drifted to her stomach. She swallowed as she covered it up by fisting the blanket that was laying over her, only considering telling Wynonna about all of  _ that  _ for a millisecond. She shook off the urge, knowing they had both established they were keeping it to themselves. “Uh . . . Well, as of recently, the most  _ traumatic  _ thing that’s happened to me was on  _ Monday.”  _

_ “Monday?”  _ Wynonna questioned with raised brows. 

“Yea . . . A kid called me a fag in the middle of class, Nic arrested him for possession of some shit, it was a whole thing.” 

_ “What?!  _ Who the  _ hell  _ was it?!” 

Waverly shook her head with a roll of her eyes. “Some little double-flunk named Lucas Grommet. He’s-”

“Did you say  _ Grommet?”  _ Wynonna asked with slightly wide eyes.

“Yea . . . Why?” 

“Like, as in, his dad’s  _ Paul Grommet, _ who owns the car shop down the road from Shorty’s?”

“I think so . . .  _ Why?” _

Wynonna let out a breath, shaking her head as she took a  _ long  _ pull from the bottle.  _ “Oooh, _ Wave, if he ever gives you any more shit just let ‘em know you were almost his step-aunt.”

Waverly blinked at her for a long couple of seconds. “. . . Excuse me?”

She nodded with a sigh, meeting her eyes again. “Yep.” 

“Ok, he’s not going to Purgatory’s school anymore, so I won’t, but  _ explain!?”  _

“Well . . . let’s just say when I was running with the Banditos, they, uh, needed some parts for their bikes, so I . . .  _ got  _ some.”

_ “Stole  _ some,” Waverly corrected through a grumble. 

“Same difference.” She rolled her eyes at her, but Wynonna brushed her off. “Anyway. After a few times, I got caught. By Paul. He was not very happy whatsoever.” 

“Do I need to guess how you made it up to him?” 

“I mean, if you want to, you can,” she mumbled. 

“Hmm, well, did you  _ sleep  _ with him, Nonna?” Waverly asked with a knowing look on her face.

“It  _ was  _ just gonna be a one-time thing, but . . .  _ Paulie Boy  _ had that  _ huuuuuuge-” _

“I get it,” she grumbled. “That doesn’t tell me why you almost married him.” 

“I mean,  _ I  _ never wanted to. Apparently he did, though ‘cause he kinda . . .” Wynonna looked down at the bottle as she picked at the label with her nail. “Broke things off with his wife for me?” 

“Jesus  _ fucking  _ Christ, Wynonna!”

“Hey! I didn’t know he was  _ in love  _ with me! He offered to leave his three year old and wife he just dumped for an 18 year old to run away with me, and I laughed in his face so hard I shot beer all over him, and then I grabbed the 6-pack that was sitting next to him and walked  _ right  _ out the door . . . So, uh, from that day forward, no Grommet has wanted  _ anything  _ to do with the Earps.”

Waverly slowly shook her head at her, running a hand down her face. “So . . .  _ you’re telling me  _ that the reason me and any kid in the gay community that was in that class got a slur sprayed at them was just ‘cause  _ you  _ slept with this idiot’s dad 12 or so years ago, broke up his parents, and he’s heard how  _ his  _ family has slandered  _ our  _ family’s name with whatever  _ bullshit  _ story they told him, and now he has a grudge against us?” 

Wynonna ran her hand across her mouth a few times, staring at her with those guilty puppy eyes. “I mean . . . when you put it that way . . .”

Waverly let out a heavy sigh, leaning her head back against the arm of the couch and pinching the bridge of her nose. _ “God, I need a drink.”  _

After a few seconds, she felt the coolness of the bottle Wynonna had just softly tapped against her foot, and she jabbed said foot into her leg.  _ “Ow!”  _

“I _don’t_ want your whiskey, Wynonna.”

“But you just-” 

_ “Shut up,”  _ she groaned.

**Sunday, September 3rd, 2020 1:24 AM**

"Her teacher lady even gave her a little good job certificate thingy, yea," Wynonna mumbled with a smile. 

Waverly pouted her lip. "And she hadn't even asked her to help him?" 

"No! She told me she walked over there and saw that he was having problems with his colors and that Ali was helping him out each time she called off another color." 

"So his parents hadn't even known he was colorblind?" 

Wynonna shook her head. "They said it never had come up, I guess, I dunno." 

Waverly let out a hum in understanding, smiling softly again. "My Ali Bear's a little helper already. We've taught her right." 

_ "We've?" _

"I caught  _ you _ trying to teach her how to pick  _ locks,  _ Wynonna. I'm allowed to say  _ we  _ 'cause I know  _ that  _ is not the kind of stuff I'm teaching her." __

"It's a useful skill," she mumbled. 

Waverly rolled her eyes, flicking them towards the clock on the far wall with a yawn. "Holy  _ poop _ , it's almost  _ 1:30 in the morning."  _

Wynonna chuckled, "Time flies when you're busy talking about your life." 

"I guess so, yea," Waverly mumbled, looking down at her phone to confirm she hasn't heard  _ anything  _ from Nicole since she left. 

"Hey," Wynonna said, poking her leg and getting her to look at her. "She's fine, Babygirl." 

"I know . . . I'm just not used to her doing this kind of thing, I guess." 

"Yea, you both are  _ pretty  _ boring when it comes to having active social lives." 

"Nonna, we both have jobs that have really high expectations for us now. We're not just gonna go out and  _ party  _ every weekend. Besides, that's just not our thing. Maybe we used to go out to bars and clubs more often in years past, but we're just kinda growing out of it all, I dunno." 

"I will  _ never  _ grow out of my party days." 

"Trust me, we know. I've had to clean vomit off of you once a month,  _ every _ month for my entire  _ life, _ it feels like." 

"No, you  _ haven't,"  _ Wynonna huffed. Waverly threw her a look, and Wynonna glanced away. ". . . I usually at  _ least _ miss my pants." 

"Yea, that's about it," Waverly mumbled, looking back down at her phone and hovering her thumbs over the keyboard on her messenger. 

"Just text her, Dude," her sister said after she saw the contemplation on her face. 

"She won't think I'm being needy?" 

"She'll think  _ 'Wow, I'm out getting shitfaced with my friends and haven't even thought to tell my wife that I'm still alive over the past 5 hours once'." _

Waverly pursed her lips, letting out a sigh as she began to type out a quick checking in message. 

But a certain someone calling made it not even necessary anymore. 

"Huh. Speak of the devil." She answered the phone, and Wynonna quickly put it on speaker before she could put it to her ear. She threw her a look, raising her brows. "Hello?" 

"Heey, Baby," Nicole said in an  _ extremely  _ drunk slur. "It's  _ really  _ dark out, Dude. Like,  _ nighttime _ dark."

Wynonna slapped her leg as she silenced a laugh. "She's fuckin'  _ wasted." _

Waverly waved her off. "Yea, Honey. It's after one in the morning. You've been gone for a while." 

"Yea, b- but, like, it's  _ nighttime  _ dark. Not, like, mornin' dark." 

Waverly slowly nodded at whatever that meant, raising a brow. "So you're outside, huh? Where're you at?"

"Pussy Willows."

"Outside of Pussy Willows?" 

"Yu-huh," she mumbled. "Jer Jer 'n Melly're 'ere, too. Ya wanna talk to 'em?- Here they are." 

"HI, WAVERLY-" 

She heard some muffled talking on the phone before a loud sigh as Jeremy's voice came through. "Hi, Waves." 

"Hey, Jer," she chuckled. "You having a good night with all that?" 

"Oh, totally, yea." 

She laughed a little. "So what's goin' on? You guys about to head off?" 

"Uh, yea . . . That's why I told her to call you."

"You're not gonna be able to bring her?" Waverly asked with furrowed brows. 

"Well, I mean, I  _ could.  _ But I wanted your opinion 'cause . . . Meyer's about four shots deeper than Nic and she's looking to either puke her guts or pass out any second now, so I kinda planned on taking her back to Calgary first. And . . . I don't know if you want me to have your hammered wife in a car for over two hours before she gets home." 

Waverly let out a breath, shaking her head as she rubbed her cheek. "Yea, I dunno if that's a good idea." 

"I don't think so either," Jeremy sighed. "So do you just wanna come grab her? You're only, what, 20 minutes from here?" 

"I'm at the Homestead, so it's a bit longer, but I know a back road shortcut." 

"Ok," Jeremy said. "You want me to wait or . . ." 

"No, it's fine. I'll just keep her on the phone so I can keep an eye on her." 

"Or keep an ear on her," Jeremy chuckled. 

Waverly rolled her eyes. "Funny. Are you sure you're sober or is that just your usual sense of humor kicking in?" 

"No, I'm, like, 97% sober. I had three shots with them right when we got to Shorty's a little after eight, but that's it- Also  _ rude. _ " 

Waverly let out a laugh.  _ “Love you,  _ Jer Bear. Give me my wife back.” 

“Yea, yea,” he grumbled. “Love you, too.” 

"Say hi to Robin for me!" Waverly said quickly before she knew the phone was being handed over. 

"I will. Here's your tequila junkie. I'm leaving her on the bench outside the front door, I don’t see her being able to go anywhere by herself.” 

“M’kay, sounds good.” Waverly heard the phone fumbled over and smiled a little "Hi, Honey." 

"Uh-huh, bye, Jer. I’ll behave, promise . . . Mm, hi, Baby," Nicole mumbled after Waverly assumed the two left her. "I love you." 

_ "Awwwww, _ I love you, too, Haughty," Wynonna grinned. 

"Fuck off, Asshead. I'm not talkin' t' you." 

"Did you just call me an  _ Asshead?"  _ Wynonna questioned. 

"Uh, _yea,"_ Nicole scoffed. "It's worse thanna _butthead."_

She let out a snort, shaking her head at the phone. "Dude, I wish I coulda got Wave as fucked up as you are right now."

Nicole let out a loud gasp. “Nuh-uh! Wave ain’t allowed t’ get drunk ‘cause she-” Waverly smacked the phone against her ear as she continued,  _ “might have a baby in’er.”  _

Waverly nodded with hard eyes, looking towards Wynonna with a sigh, “Yea, I know. I knew I might have to come get you tonight.” 

“Wha- No,” Nicole mumbled. 

“Hey, tell me about your night, yea?” Waverly asked as she pushed off the couch, swatting at Wynonna’s arm a few times as she pulled at her sleeve to try and get it to put it back on speaker for her own amusement. 

“I hadda  _ real  _ good night.” 

“Mhm,” Waverly mumbled as she pulled her shoes on. “Tell me about it.” 

“We . . .”

“Nic.” 

“Hmm?” 

“Hey, I’m about to leave and you need to keep me entertained for my car ride. Tell me what you guys did tonight.” Waverly looked towards Wynonna and gave her a smile and a wave, pulling the phone away from her face for a second. “I’ll text you when we get home.” 

Wynonna nodded, giving her a thumbs-up as she finished up what was left in the whiskey. “See ya, Babygirl.” 

Waverly gave her another smile as she slipped out the front door, gently closing it behind her and making her way to her jeep. “Can you do that for me, Nic?” 

“Ya.”

“Alright, Honey. You do that.” She put the phone back on speaker and dropped it in the cupholder.

“You leavin’ now?”

Waverly started her jeep and put it in drive, turning down the driveway. “Yup. I’m leaving the Homestead now.” 

“How long for that?” 

“For what?” Waverly questioned.

“‘Til you're  _ here,  _ Wavey. I want my baby.” 

Waverly pouted her lip a little after hearing how softly she had said the last part. “Only 25-30 minutes, I promise.” She pressed her foot harder on the gas pedal, hoping maybe if she went a little faster down the backroads she knew like the back of her hand that she would get there quicker. 

“Ok,” Nicole mumbled quietly. "Ya wanna hear 'bout what we did at th- uh."

"At Shorty's?" 

"Mhm, that." 

"Yea, Baby. Tell me," Waverly assured. 

"M'kay. First, we got there." 

"Wow, really?" She asked with a chuckle. 

"Uh-huh, we did. Then we went inside, 'n I gotta Jack 'n Coke 'cause  _ duh.  _ Then . . . Th- we got food, I think." 

"What'd you get?" Waverly asked. The line was quiet for a second and she furrowed her brow. "Babe?" 

". . . You ain't gon' get mad?" 

"Why would I get mad?" 

Nicole's voice got soft again. "C- 'Cause I ate piggies 'n cowies." 

Waverly shook her head. "It's ok, I don't care." 

"I'm- I ate piggies 'n cowies when I could've not ate piggies 'n cowies, 'n I'm sorry, Baby." 

"Nic, it's  _ ok,"  _ Waverly assured gently. "Don't freak out over it." 

"D- D'you still love me?" 

"Of  _ course _ I do, Sweetie. Just because I don't eat animal stuff doesn't mean I hate you 'cause you ate, what, a bacon cheeseburger probably?" 

"Yea," Nicole mumbled. 

"Yea. It's ok. I don't care- I mean, I do, but-" She shook her head. "It's fine, Nic. Don't worry about it." 

"I'm sorry," Nicole said quietly after a few seconds. 

“Ok, Baby. Keep going. What happened after that?” 

“M’kay, then . . . then we did some shots ‘cause we  _ always  _ do th’ first three together. We did- We, uh . . . yea. We played some pool ‘n talked ‘bout stuff- I talked ‘bout you ‘cause you’re my  _ favorite  _ ‘n I love talkin’ ‘bout my baby.” 

Waverly laughed a little. “How many games d’you play?” 

_ “A lot,”  _ Nicole answered quickly. “Like, a  _ million billion.” _

“A million billion,” Waverly echoed with a nod. “That’s nice. How’d you do?” 

“I did  _ amazing,”  _ she smirked. “You’d be, like,  _ so  _ proud’f me.” 

Waverly laughed again, shaking her head as she leaned back in her seat some more as she slowed going around a sharp curve. “I bet I would. Ok. You played pool. Then what?” 

“Then me ‘n Melly did s’ more shots, I dunno how many, but it made Jer mad, so.” 

“So probably  _ a lot.”  _

“Go big or go home, Darlin’.” 

“Mhm,” she chuckled. “Then what happened?” 

“Then . . . _ Oo!  _ Then we went out ‘n took Jer’s car for a lil’ ride while he was in the bathroom.”

_ “Nicole,”  _ Waverly scolded. “Why?” 

Nicole laughed with a hiccup. “‘Cause it was funny.” 

“I told you not to be dumb, Baby,” she mumbled. 

“Hey. We stayed in the parkin’ lot,” she huffed. “It’s not like we-” Nicole cut herself off with a loud gasp. 

“What?” Waverly questioned with a raised brow. 

“Wave, there’s a  _ kitty!”  _ She heard the phone moving around and widened her eyes a little. “I’ma get it.” 

“No,” she said quickly. “Nicole, stay there. Leave it be, ok?” 

“Mnmm, I’ma get Mr. White Kitty.” 

Waverly heard the sound of slightly dragging footsteps, quickly shaking her head as she pressed her foot harder on the gas pedal. “Nic, go sit back down. Leave the cat alone. I’m sure it doesn’t want you messing with it.” 

“But- But I want the kitty.” 

“We’ve got two, Babe. You can play with CJ and Geronimo when we get home, ok?” 

_ “Noo!” _ She whined. “I want this one, too.” 

“Nic,  _ please.  _ Go back to the bench, ok? I don’t want you to get hurt.” 

“Pssh, I’m  _ fine.”  _

“You’re not  _ fine,  _ you’re  _ drunk,”  _ she huffed. “If you don’t go back, I’m gonna be really upset with you.” 

“But . . .” She heard her footsteps slow. “But the kitty.” 

“I know, you want the kitty. You can’t have it, though. Just- Just go sit back down. I’ll be there in, like, 10-15 minutes, I promise.”

Nicole was quiet for a few seconds, and Waverly chewed her lip as she listened for any sounds to hint to her as to what she was doing. “I-  _ Oh my God.”  _

“What?” 

Nicole dropped her voice to a whisper. “Th- . . . There’s, like,  _ two  _ kitties.”

_ “Nicole,” _ Waverly said sternly right when she heard her moving again.  _ “Go sit down.”  _

“Kitties,” she mumbled to herself. “I’ma play with‘em.”

Waverly shook her head with a heavy breath after realizing how weighted and slurred her words were starting to come out, swallowing down the lump in her throat. “Baby,  _ please  _ go back. You’re freaking me out.” 

“Shh.”

“Nicole,” Waverly pleaded.

“I’m- Wave, I’ll be . . . I’ll be fine.” Waverly heard her feet stumbling a bit, her shoes dragging against the concrete. 

“Nic-”

_ “Wooah, spinny.” _

Waverly pushed her hand through her hair.  _ “Jesus fucking-”  _ Her eyes went wide when she heard the phone drop against the concrete, the sound of Nicole hitting the ground following right after. “Nicole?”

Silence.

_ “Nicole.”  _

Silence. 

Waverly fished her phone out of the cup holder, seeing that the call was still on.  _ “Nicole!”  _

Nothing but the sound of distant vehicles rolling along the roads around her was coming through the phone. 

Waverly gripped her wheel harder, smacking her palm against the top of it as she let out a string of curses, beginning to floor it down the backroad she was on. She switched hands holding her phone and went to drop it back into the cupholder, but her eyes snapped towards it when she heard the noise. 

Her  _ thumb  _ had pressed right against the end call button. 

_ “Fuck.”  _

Waverly clenched her jaw hard, barely even slowing as she turned out onto the main road that would take her right to Pussy Willows. She ignored the 55 MPH sign she passed, keeping her foot pressed to the floorboard as she stormed down the road, not seeing another car in sight. 

Going at this speed basically cut her time in half, so within only a few more minutes, she was stomping on her brakes so she was able to pull into the full Pussy Willows parking lot. She jammed her fingers on the window buttons for the driver’s and passenger's seat windows, grabbing her phone back out with a shaky hand and hitting the call button. 

She went up and down the rows of cars, searching and listening to see if she could either hear her ringtone or find her wife. She went up and down three rows before she finally heard the familiar tone, snapping her head towards the window on her side and leaning back and forth as she tried to see which row it was coming from. She drove up the side of one more, feeling her eyes shoot straight out of her skull when she looked down it, seeing white Vans sticking out from behind the side of a car about 6 cars down the row.

Waverly threw the jeep in park, and flung her seatbelt off, jumping out of her seat and running towards her.  _ “Baby!”  _ She pressed her hand against the car to slow herself down, letting out another curse when she saw Nicole lying facedown on the pavement, her phone sticking out from under her shoulder. “Shit,” she breathed out, dropping down next to her and carefully flipping her over. She pushed the hair out of Nicole’s face, pressing her fingers against her neck and feeling a steady pulse. “Ok,” she said with relief despite the tears rolling down her face without her control, gently rubbing her thumb across the scrape on her forehead and looking down at her arm that had road rash completely covering the side of it. She concluded that she must have landed with most of her weight on that arm, but she was still worried about her head. She looked back up to her face, tapping her cheek and shaking her shoulder. “Nicole, wake up.” She wiped her own face of tears before grabbing her chin and shaking her head a little. “Cole. C’mon, Baby.” 

Nicole’s eyes slowly opened halfway and she let out a groan, looking at her arm. “Ow.”

“Hey, you  _ asshole.”  _

Nicole looked up at her, smiling drowsily. “Mm, hi, Baby.” 

“Do you know where you are?” 

“Pussy Willows.”

Waverly smacked her stomach. “Yea, you passed out in the _fucking_ _parking lot_ trying to chase a _cat.”_

Nicole looked around, letting out a hum. “Guess so.” She looked back up at her, furrowing her brow as she reached up and cupped her cheek. “Baby, why you _ cryin’?” _

“‘Cause you  _ scared  _ me, Cole,” she huffed, swallowing as she gently wrapped her fingers around her wrist and rubbed it with her thumb. 

“Why?” She asked softly, slowly pushing herself to sit up next to her. “We were- I was on the phone with you.” 

“Yea, and then you  _ passed out _ and wouldn’t  _ answer  _ me. I didn’t know if you were ok or not.” 

She frowned, dropping her hands to her lap. “I’m sorry.” She winced a little, turning her arm over and poking the bleeding skin again. “Ouchy.” 

Waverly cupped her face, getting her to look at her again.  _ “Are  _ you ok, though?”

Nicole held up her arm. “Ouchy.”

Waverly pushed it down. “Yea, Honey. I see that. I mean your head. I don’t know how hard you hit it.” She rubbed her thumb over the scrape on the side of her forehead. “D’you feel weird?”

“Drunk,” she mumbled, leaning back against the car beside her.  _ “Real _ drunk.” 

“Yea, but besides that?” 

_ “I dunno, _ Baby,” she said with a whine. “I jus’ wanna go t’ bed.” 

“Cole, I’m trying to figure out if you need to go to the  _ ER  _ or not.” She flicked the flashlight on her phone on, pulling her eyelid down and shining it into it for a second before flicking it away, doing the same with the other. 

“Ok,  _ Meredith Grey.” _

Waverly threw her a look, though a small smile tugged at her lips. “Follow my finger, Brat.” She moved her finger around in front of Nicole’s eyes, and she complied. 

“Kinky.” 

“You’re  _ really _ pushin’ it, Dude.” Nicole let out a little giggle, grabbing her hand and pressing a kiss to her palm. Waverly smiled, giving her hand a squeeze. “How many of me are there?” 

Nicole looked at her, squinting dramatically hard before letting out a breath of relief. _ “Thankfully _ only one.” 

Waverly huffed, pulling her hand from her’s and standing up. “Ok, you can get to the jeep yourself then.” 

“Noo,” she whined, grabbing her ankle before she could get too far away. “Baby, help me. I’m sorry.” 

Waverly let out a sigh, pushing her phone into her pocket and holding her hands out. “C’mon then.” 

Nicole grabbed her hands and allowed her to help her stand, leaning back against the car when she did to catch her balance. Waverly stumbled forward a step, pressing her hands against her chest. “Hi,” Nicole smiled. 

Waverly let out a shaky breath, wrapping her arms around her middle. “I’m glad you’re ok.” 

Nicole drooped her arms loosely around her shoulders with a hum. “I’ma hard nut t’ crack.” 

“Sure, you are,” Waverly sighed, pulling back from her and sniffling only once. “Let’s get you home, yea?” Nicole nodded, pushing off the car and letting Waverly wrap her arm around her waist to help her walk straight. They got there with only a little difficulty, and Waverly pulled the door open, helping her into the seat which she basically fell into. “On your butt, c’mon.” She grabbed her elbow and adjusted her so she was sitting on the seat instead of being flopped over halfway to the driver’s side. She buckled her up and pushed her leg in so it didn’t get smashed when she closed the door.

“Can I go sleepy now?” Nicole mumbled when Waverly climbed in, leaning her body against the car door. 

She ran her hand across her thigh after putting the car in drive and pulling away from where she had parked. “Go for it, Sweetheart,” she sighed. “I’m waking you up when we get home, though. I can’t carry you in.”

“Not fair.”

“I  _ could  _ drag you if you wanted?”

“Mnmm.” Nicole looked down at her arm again. “It hurts.”

Waverly looked at her after pulling out of the lot, letting out a tut as she grabbed her wrist and turned it towards her. “I bet. I’ll clean it when we get home, too.”

_ “No.”  _

“Uh,  _ yea. _ Next time  _ listen to me  _ when I tell you don’t go wandering across a parking lot.” 

Nicole pulled her legs up onto the seat with a sad huff, keeping her eyes out the window. “I . . . I wanted the kitties.”

“Yea, but I told you to leave them alone ‘cause I  _ knew  _ you’d get hurt. And look what happened.” She let out a heavy breath, trying to relax back in her seat as she drove. “Just . . . I was already worried about you, so it  _ really fucking scared me. All  _ you had to do was listen to me and you wouldn’t have gotten hurt. So  _ listen  _ to me next time, ok?” Waverly waited a second, looking towards her when she didn’t answer her.  _ “Ok?”  _ Nicole didn’t answer again, and she pushed her hand against her shoulder. "Hey-" Her lips pursed and she let out a sigh as she tried to relax back in her seat again, seeing that Nicole was already out. 

Waverly pushed her hand through her hair, resting her elbow against the top of the door panel and leaning her head against her palm as she drove. “Nicole Haught . . .  _ God,  _ you’re so lucky I love you.” 

**10:13 AM**

Waverly slowly sipped on her tea, setting the mug back on the coffee table beside her as she typed away at lesson plans for the next week or two of school on her laptop. Every so often she glanced up at the TV, but she was pretty focused for the most part. 

What  _ did  _ grab her attention, though, was her phone buzzing next to her on the couch. She flicked the blanket on top of her around, grabbing it when it came loose from it’s hiding spot and checking the screen, chuckling a bit as she answered the call and set it on speaker on her chest. “Morning, Sunshine.” She heard a pained groan come from both through the phone and from the bedroom.  _ “Oo, _ someone’s happy.” 

“Can you bring me Aspirin?” Nicole mumbled, her voice muffled into the pillow, Waverly assumed. 

“Mhm. Anything else?” 

_ “Death.”  _

“M’kay, Baby. I’ll be in there in a minute.” 

Nicole let out a grunt before ending the call, and Waverly shook her head, closing her laptop and pushing off the couch. She walked into the kitchen and grabbed a mug out of the cabinet, pouring the coffee she had already had waiting and grabbing the Aspirin bottle she had set next to it. She pulled a water bottle out of the fridge as she passed it and quietly walked into their room, finding her face down on the pillow in the same position she had left her when she had passed out there the night before and also when she had woken up that morning. 

Waverly set the mug of coffee down on the nightstand beside her, sitting down on her side of the bed and crawling over towards her. “Here,” she said as she tapped her shoulder with the pill bottle. “Flip over.” 

Nicole slowly did so, dropping her arm over her eyes.  _ “Fuck.”  _

Waverly sighed, climbing over her and walking over to the window, pulling the blackout curtains closed, now the only light in the room coming from the open bedroom door. “There. Better?” 

“Mhm,” she mumbled, pulling her arm away from her eyes and letting out a hiss when the plastic wrap Waverly had used to hold the gauze on her arm stuck and pulled at the bandage on her forehead. “What in the good  _ fuck  _ did I do?” she questioned in a mumble as she slowly pushed herself up to slouch back against her pillows and headboard. “Does it have anything to do with why I’m in my underwear?” 

Waverly sat back down on the bed and sighed as she cracked her water bottle for her, handing it to her as she shook some pills out of the bottle. “No- well, kinda. You passed out before I could put anything else on you, so I left you like that . . . You threw up all over yourself  _ right  _ when I got us through the front door and there was already blood on your shirt, so . . .  _ yea.”  _

Nicole widened her eyes at her, flicking them back forward as she popped the pills into her mouth and downed them. “Drunk me sucks, huh?” 

“Yes,” Waverly answered without hesitation. “Want me to tell you why?”

“I know you’ll tell me either way, so, go for it, Baby.” 

Waverly started the story off with what had happened at Pussy Willows, Nicole even agreeing that she was a  _ fucking idiot.  _ She then continued with how she was out within minutes of getting into the car and how she had tried to convince her to let her sleep in the car once they got home.

“I would be not only hungover and in pain from my skin acquainted with the concrete, but  _ also  _ wouldn’t be able to move if I slept in a car, so thank you, Baby,” Nicole said with a smile above the mug of her coffee that she had gotten at one point throughout the story. 

“Mhm. So I hauled you up to the door, and  _ asked  _ you if you felt sick ‘cause I knew you might after the car ride and  _ you said no,  _ so we got inside about three steps, and . . .”

“And Niagara Falls?” Nicole questioned with a raise of her brows.

“I honestly didn’t know you were  _ capable  _ of containing that much liquid, but there it was, all over you,  _ me,  _ and my favorite rug.”

Nicole let out a sigh, slumping towards her sideways and resituating so her head was in Waverly’s lap. “I’m sorry.” 

“Oh, I’m not done,” she assured. “So you did  _ that,  _ and, at this point, I was already  _ so  _ stressed out, so I just started crying again ‘cause I was so done with your  _ perfect frickin’ face.  _ I had to set you on the floor and chase down the cats while I’m almost sobbing and get them in our room ‘cause your  _ puke’s  _ all over the floor. Then I got you into the bathroom, got your clothes off, and threw you in the tub.”

“Is that why I don’t smell like a nightmare?” Nicole asked with a small grin as Waverly slowly ran her fingers through her hair. 

“It is, yea. I got in there with you and cleaned both of us off. Then I dried you off and tried to keep you from falling asleep while I was putting boxers and this on you.” She snapped the hem of her sports bra against her. “I turned for  _ five seconds  _ to get a shirt and shorts for you and you were already out, so I said screw it, wrapped your arm, slapped a bandaid on your face, and then went and cleaned the floor in there, crying  _ again  _ ‘cause I just wanted to sleep.” She looked down at her with an annoyed smile. “Anyway, we’re both alive, so that’s a plus, I guess.” 

“If I  _ ever  _ do that to you again, you can leave me outside on the front porch. Just saying. ‘Cause apparently that’s where I deserved to sleep.”

“No, if you ever do that to me again, I’m gonna take you to the station and let  _ them  _ deal with you.” 

Nicole’s jaw dropped open, but Waverly looked down at her with eyes filled with exhaustion and pain, so she snapped her mouth close with a nod. “Sounds good.” 

“Mhm.” Waverly slid her hand down her stomach, leaning her head back against the headboard with a heavy sigh. 

“. . . I love you,” Nicole mumbled after a few minutes of silence between them. “Like,  _ a lot.”  _

Waverly raised her brows, looking down at her and lightly running her nails across her abdomen. “I’d hope so.” 

“Oh, I know so,” she assured with a soft smile. 

“Good.” Waverly looked back down at her, letting out a grunt as she shifted and got her off her lap. Nicole let out a whine, and she scooted down the bed, getting Nicole to shift to lay longways on the bed and snuggling into her chest. 

Nicole let out a hum, pulling the blanket over them and hugging her closer. “You should go back to sleep,” she mumbled, pressing a light kiss to her forehead. “I know I needa few more hours before I can be a functioning human.” 

Waverly inhaled for a long couple of seconds, slowly letting it out with only a little bit of shake as she tipped her head up. Nicole looked down at her, furrowing her brow in question at the look on her face. “. . . You know . . . You know when stuff starts rolling, you’re not gonna be able to do any of that anymore, right?” 

Nicole nodded with a small smile on her lips. “I know. I think . . .” She leaned her head back against the pillow with a sigh. “I think I realized that- or my brain did at least, so I let go a lil bit. One last trip back to my college party days before startin’ a college fund for the Haught Pocket, ya know?” 

Waverly nodded, though it was only in partial understanding. “I just . . .” She pulled at a string on the blanket. “You  _ know  _ I’m not supposed to be stressed right now, Nic.”

“You’re always stressed, though,” she mumbled.

Waverly threw her a look. “My wife’s a  _ cop,  _ my sister kills  _ demons  _ for a living, I’ve got a whole gaggle of kids that I pour my heart and soul into teaching and helping every day,  _ and  _ we’re getting ready to get pregnant. I’ve got a lot of shit on my plate right now, ok? And  _ you  _ telling me you’re gonna take it easy and then  _ not  _ taking it easy isn’t helping.  _ Especially  _ when that includes me not knowing whether you’re dying from alcohol poisoning while I’m trying to find where the hell you’re passed out in a parking lot.” 

Nicole squeezed her arm around her body, letting out a breath. “It’ll never happen again, ok?” 

“Better not,” she mumbled through a yawn, hitching her leg over her hips to get closer to her. 

“Mnmm,” Nicole assured. “It won’t, I promise.”

“Good,” Waverly yawned. “‘Cause the very first time I had to deal with  _ mega  _ drunk you, I found out you  _ kissed my sister.” _

“It was  _ four years ago,  _ let it  _ go,”  _ Nicole groaned. She let out a grunt, and Nicole rolled her eyes as she continued. “I’ve gotten all my  _ dumbass  _ out for the time being I think . . . ‘cause you know I’ll be back on my dumbass bullshit by next month- but I’ll tone it down. No more garage parties or target shooting competitions with Nonna . . . All just for my baby and the maybe baby . . . ok?” Nicole looked down at her with a furrowed brow after a second when she didn’t answer. “Ok?” She pushed the hair out of Waverly’s face, letting out a breathy laugh when she saw her eyes closed and her lips slightly parted. Nicole relaxed back into the pillow behind her, closing her tired eyes and hoping and praying that sleep would take away the throbbing in her skull. 

And whether that throbbing was from the hangover or how she was trying to figure out how she was going to make it up to Waverly on her birthday later that week, she couldn’t tell you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that was a lot lmao  
> TBH Nic was a lil insensitive there with all that, but I'm sure she learned her lesson  
> Check chap 11 of YAMHP if you wanna read the first time Waves had to deal with Nic being a Haught Mess  
> hah get it  
> I'm warning you about the absolute horror of my early writing, but it's there if you wanna take a look  
> WAVES BDAY NEXT CHAP I'LL SEE Y'ALL THEN
> 
> ALSO  
> Me n Solace made an Instagram for Looking to Belong that's gonna have a bunch of fun shit for the fic on it. If you read that fic and have an insta, go ahead and give us a follow @lookingtobelong  
> We have a great time writing that together and thought we could make it even more interactive for y'all, so there you go


	5. It’s National Waverly Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Le Birthday Gorl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sup fuckers  
> I guess once every three weeks is my new schedule lmaoo  
> Anyway, it's Waves' b-day, Nicole is wrapped around her finger, and...uh, well, you'll find out the rest as you read.  
> I think that's all I have to say besides to please send help for AJ and I's addiction to Among Us 
> 
> Anywho have a good read.

**Friday, September 8th, 2020 6:45 AM**

Waverly woke up but not by the usual blaring of the alarm on her phone telling her that she needed to get her ass up and ready for school. 

No.

Instead, the soft lips pressing against different areas on her cheek and the thumb gently running up and down the column of her throat were to blame for the slow and enjoyable wake-up call rather than her usual sudden and startling one.

Waverly let out a soft hum, her voice sticking a bit as she closed her eyes again, taking a second to roll towards her favorite alarm clock. She smiled softly when she felt a couple of kisses peck the tip of her nose, moving up to her forehead. “Morning,” she mumbled when she did open her eyes again, staring into the soft brown eyes looking back at her.

Nicole smiled, somehow snuggling even closer to her and tugging the quilt to their chins. “Mornin’ . . . Miss _25.”_

Waverly giggled, the corners of her eyes creasing as she cupped her wife’s cheek and pressed a kiss to her lips. “I’m _ancient_ now.” 

“If I’m already 30, what’s that make me then?” Nicole asked with a little smirk, gently dancing her fingers up her arm.

Waverly let out a hum as she pressed another kiss to her lips. “Kinda like a cougar.” 

Nicole let out a quick scoff, pulling her head back from her. _“No.”_ Waverly laughed again, rolling to her back and stretching her limbs out. “If I remember correctly, _you_ kissed me first.” 

“Yea,” Waverly said with a shrug. “So? You kissed back _if I remember correctly.”_

“Well, _first,_ I was full gay panic, but after that passed, totally yea.”

Waverly rolled to her side again, grinning as she snuggled up to her. _“Making out_ with a _barely legal_ girl at 26?” Waverly shook her head at her with a few tuts as Nicole pushed her away.

“You were _20!”_ she huffed. “You were _plenty_ legal!” 

Waverly giggled as she wiggled right back up next to her, rolling her to her back as she slid on top of her. _“Naughty_ Sheriff.” 

Nicole glared at her playfully as she slid her hands down her sides, palming her ass over her leggings with a grip. “I think you’ll see more of that later,” Nicole whispered with a little smirk.

“Oh, will I?” Waverly asked, flicking her eyes down as her bottom lip brushed across her wife’s. 

“Mhm.” 

“Maybe I’m glad it’s only a half-day at school then,” she hummed. 

Nicole raised her brows a little. “Oh, Baby, we’ve got plans _all_ day. I’ma make you wait.” 

“We’ve got plans, hmm?” She wiggled her brows a bit, grinning slyly. “What kinda plans?”

 _“Nunya.”_ Nicole flipped them over and pressed her down into the mattress, grinning wolfishly at her widened eyes. She dropped her mouth down as close as she could get to Waverly’s without touching, reaching out and tugging at her bottom lip with her teeth _just_ the slightest bit. “Don’t think ‘bout me too much today, Darlin’. You’ve got kids t’ teach.” 

Waverly let out a heavy breath with a hint of frustration as Nicole climbed off of her and slipped off the bed, slowly sitting up and following her with her eyes as she walked towards the bedroom door. Nicole stopped and threw her a wink over her shoulder before pulling it open all the way and slipping out before the pillow Waverly flung at her could hit her. 

**11:25 AM**

“Guys,” Waverly breathed out, shooting a wide-eyed glare at her study hall. “Chill. There’s still five minutes left until you get out for the day.”

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head with a small grin when the synchronized groan rolled over and everyone sat down to settle. “I’m _hungry,”_ Colin groaned. 

“Yea, I’m hungry, too,” she chuckled. “I’m not acting like a maniac, though.” 

“You’ve got, like, _three pounds_ of food on your desk!” he huffed.

Waverly smiled a little as she looked around on her desk at all of the gifts from her students that she had gathered throughout the day. There was a _buttload_ of vegan chocolate, a couple of new mugs, a bazillion candles, a million cards to stash away in her memory binder so she could read them all over again, and one or two gift cards that she had already shoved in her purse. When she had _joked_ about them getting her things for her birthday, she hadn’t thought that so many actually _would,_ but she swore she had five more gift bags on her desk with every class that came in. She was _more_ than grateful for her students, and this just proved more so how much they appreciated her right back. 

“What’re you doing after school?” Kaylee asked, tipping her head as she rested her cheek on her fist. 

“I have no idea. Nicole won’t tell me.”

“Why?”

She shrugged as she took a drink of her water. “It’s a surprise, I guess.”

“Why are we even getting out of school early?” another student questioned. 

“‘Cause it’s her _birthday. Duh.”_

Waverly looked towards the door, smiling when Nicole walked in the room with her hands shoved into the back pockets of her ripped black skinny jeans. She shook her head at her, leaning back in her chair. “Shut up, that’s not why.” 

“Yea-huh. It’s National Waverly Day. Everybody knows that.”

Waverly rolled her eyes, looking towards the class. “You guys can go pack up.” 

They all took off like a herd of rabid animals to get out the door and to their lockers. Nicole chuckled, tracing her eyes over all of the things on her desk. “Spoiled much?”

Waverly smiled softly as she looked around at it all. “I usually get _some_ stuff, but never this much.”

Nicole let out a hum, scooting some stuff back so she could take a seat on the edge of the desk. “You deserve it all, though.” 

She pouted her lip, and they waited the last couple of minutes for the bell to ring. Nicole helped Waverly pack all of her gifts up and carry them all out to the jeep before they jumped in the front seat and got ready to roll. Waverly buckled up, sliding her hand across Nicole’s on the console and interlocking their fingers. _“So . . ._ What’re we doing?” 

Nicole pulled her grey beanie down a little with her free hand before turning out of the parking spot she was in, heading out of the parking lot. _“Well . . ._ First, we’re gonna go to Calgary.” 

“Oo,” Waverly mumbled with a grin. 

“And then we’re gonna go eat at Copper Branch.” 

Waverly let out a loud gasp. _“Oo.”_

“Mhm. You can get as _much_ food as you want.”

“That is a _bad_ decision, Babe. I’m gonna break your bank.” 

“Go right ahead,” Nicole smirked as she pulled out onto the main road. “Then after that . . . we’re gonna do something you’ve wanted to do for a _long_ time.”

Waverly widened her eyes at her. “What?” 

“D’you remember, uh, your very _first_ birthday you celebrated with me?” Nicole questioned, glancing towards her a bit. 

Waverly smiled, sinking back into her seat with a sigh. “You mean the one where you raw dogged me with the strap to distract me all day from the surprise party you planned at Shorty’s? That one?”

Nicole let out a low hum as she squeezed her hand. “Mhm. That one.” 

“Then yes, I do remember. I haven’t walked the same since.” 

Nicole laughed a little at that. "Ok. So then d'you remember what we _said_ we had done instead of, ya know, screwing all day?" 

Waverly leaned the side of her head against the seat as she thought about it. "We got there, Wynonna came over and bugged us, and . . ." Her eyes widened as her voice dropped to an almost-whisper. "You said we'd gone to the animal shelter." 

"To what?" 

"Play with puppies and kittens." 

"And what'd you say?" 

"I said that we actually have to go and play with puppies and kittens sometime now." 

Nicole looked towards her with a grin. "So, Baby, d'you wanna go play with puppies and kittens?" 

Waverly let out a happy squeal as she pulled her legs up onto the seat. _“Yes!”_

Nicole smiled as she slid her hand over to rub her leg. “I thought ya might.” 

**1:14 PM**

Nicole pulled up to the animal shelter, and Waverly was practically bouncing out of her seat. They had eaten probably the _fastest_ lunch ever because she had been so excited to get there. Nicole parked the car and pulled the keys out, grabbing her arm before she could fly out. “Hey.”

“What?” Waverly huffed. “I wanna go!” 

“I know, Honey. We just- We need to talk about this first.” Waverly furrowed her brows at her. “You have to promise me something.”

“What?” she mumbled, her excitement slowly slipping out of the half-open car door. 

“Wave.” Nicole met her eyes and slowly shook her head. “You _cannot_ fall in love with one.”

“I won’t.” 

“No. I’m serious. We . . .” She shook her head. “You might have a _child_ in you and we _cannot_ do another animal right now, so you need to _promise_ me that we’re just gonna go in and volunteer to play with some of them.”

Waverly let out a sad sigh. “I won’t fall in love, I promise.”

“Ok.” Nicole leaned towards her and pressed a kiss to her lips before climbing out of the car and shoving the keys into her pocket after locking it. “Ready?” she asked with a smile when Waverly rounded her side. 

She wrapped around her arm with a giggle. _“Yes.”_

They made their way inside and signed themselves up to volunteer for the rest of the day. A nice older lady named Lynn that worked there was put in charge of taking them from place to place so they could interact with the different groups of animals. 

“So where’re we heading first?” she asked as they walked further into the building out of the main lobby area. 

Nicole looked down at Waverly with a shrug. “It’s up to you.” 

Waverly looked towards Lynn. “Can we start at the cats?”

She nodded with a smile. “We can.” She led them back to the left part of the shelter and pulled a door open, allowing them into the room first. There were some cages lining the walls on the right, but the left was a large area with glass walls that were taller than Waverly where most of the cats and kittens were chilling. Waverly grinned as she looked over at the 20 or so cats in the play area despite the nerves pumping through her body. 

Nicole dropped her hand to her shoulder with a few squeezes, and she let out a slow breath as she grounded herself again, looking up at Nicole with a soft smile. “You wanna play with kitties with me?” 

“I would _love_ to play with kitties with you.” 

Lynn let them in through the glass door, stepping in there with them. “Anything we should know about any of them?” Nicole asked as she looked down at the cats slowly walking over to them. 

“Well . . . Zeke doesn’t like to be bothered,” she said as she pointed to a grey and white older cat sitting in the corner of the little room. “And Tooth likes to bite when he plays.” She pointed at the orange tabby kitten pawing at one of the toy mice on the floor. “Just tell him no if he starts to.” She looked around at the rest of them. “Uh- Oh, and Domino is deaf.” She nodded towards a black and white short-haired cat that was staring at them by the wall. “I think that’s it. Some of the kittens haven’t really had a whole lot of playtime with anyone that isn’t somewhere that works here, so they might be a little shy. Other than that, you should be fine.” 

“Ok, thank you!” Waverly said with a smile. 

“I’ll be back around in about an hour. Sound good?” 

“Sounds great,” Nicole nodded. “Thanks again.” 

“No problem. Come find me if you have any issues.” 

“Will do,” Waverly said before dropping right to her butt as Lynn left the little glass room. She giggled as about eight cats crawled on top of her, lifting up the brown kitten that was in the mix with a smile. “Hello!” She looked towards Nicole, who had about five or six and counting crawling on her the second she sat down. 

“Oh, _you’re_ fluffy,” she grinned, lifting up a big, black poofball. _“Hi dere.”_

The one Waverly was holding tapped its paw on her nose, and she giggled, setting it down and reaching over to grab the stick and feather toy that was a few feet away from her. “Yaay!” She flopped it around above a couple of them that weren’t busy trying to climb her shirt, and they all jumped at it. She looked towards Nicole with a smile, seeing that she was now laying on the ground on her stomach and flicking a ball with a bell in it back and forth between her hands. A million paws swatted at it before one finally scooped it away, flinging it across the floor and making them all go running after it. 

The two continued to play with the cats for a while, trying hard to give all of them the same amount of attention. Waverly wiggled around a jingly toy before tossing it and watching them all going after it, looking towards Nicole and smiling softly when she saw her sitting in the corner with Zeke laying on her thighs. _“Baby,”_ she said softly with a pouted lip. 

“I think he likes me,” she mumbled as she gently ran her hand down his back. “I’m the Pussy Whisperer." 

"Jesus Christ," Waverly muttered, going back to the group of cats she was playing with. 

“Are you gonna tell me that I’m wrong?” 

Waverly looked towards her with playful glare, letting out a huff and looking down at Tooth when he chomped down on her pinky. _“Ow._ Excuse me. Let go, Sir.” She ran her hand down his back with a tip of her head. _“No.”_ She tugged her hand a little and he let her go, and she chuckled as she scratched her fingers on his side. “You’re a mess, Dude.” 

“Aw, you two have something in common.” 

“Why, ‘cause we both like biting?” she asked with a smirk. 

Nicole licked her lips with a shake of her head. “That, too, yea.” 

They both noticed the cats moving towards the glass and turned around, seeing Lynn walk back into the room with a smile. “How’s it goin’?” 

“It’s going great,” Waverly smiled. 

“Looks like ya wore most of ‘em out,” she chuckled, standing right outside of the glass with her hands on her hips as she looked around at the cats. Zeke and two kittens were asleep on Nicole, the big black fluffy one they called _Fluffy_ and a few others were laying around her, and there were a couple more that were snoozing by Waverly.

“I think we did,” Nicole chuckled, running her thumb down the tiny grey kitten’s back that was squeezed between her stomach and Zeke. “You ready to move on to the dogs, Wave?” 

“Yea,” she sighed, pouting her lip when she moved Tooth off her lap right as he laid down there. “I sorry, Sweetheart.”

Zeke let out a deep meow as Nicole moved him. “I know, Dude.” She set him back on the pillow he had been on when they had gone in there and moved the kitten right next to him, smiling when he allowed it to stay there. She set the other one on another pillow and stood up off the floor, brushing the cat hair off her black jeans and grey shirt as she moved over towards the door. She shook her head a little bit at Waverly as she watched her pressing kisses to each of the cat’s heads before finally leaving them. 

“Everything go ok?” Lynn asked. 

“Yea, they were all great,” Waverly answered with a smile, leaning into Nicole a bit as they walked. 

“That’s good,” she smiled, looking towards Nicole. “You’re one of two people that Zeke has allowed to handle him. The other one is the main lady that deals with the cats here.” She sighed. “He’s a picky one, that one.” 

“He just walked on over to me after a bit, I was surprised since you said he doesn’t like people.” 

“Weird,” Lynn mumbled. “Alright. So we keep the dogs separate, but I _think_ they’re just about to let some of the senior dogs out into the yard to go play, so we can either go there or you can go see if you can find a dog from the kennels that you wanna take on a walk.” 

_“Oo,_ Baby, can we play with the old doggies?" Waverly asked with hopeful eyes as she tugged on her arm. 

Nicole smiled softly down at her. "It's your birthday, your choice. Don't ask me." 

Waverly looked back to Lynn with a little clap. “To the old doggies!” 

**4:09 PM**

“Go, Mike!” Waverly said with a giggle, leaning back against the fence as she watched Nicole and some of the dogs playing fetch. Mike, the older husky mix who looked like a Husky until you stared at him for too long, got to the tennis ball first and trotted back over to Nicole. 

“Good boy,” she grinned, taking it out of his mouth and backing up a few steps before firing the tennis ball towards the other side of the fence again. 

Waverly smiled as she watched the eight dogs of all shapes and sizes going after it, looking down at the 130 pound _very_ old Great Pyrenees that was laying right in her lap. “You don’t wanna go play with them, Thor?” she mumbled as she ran her hand down his side, raising her brows at him when he looked up at her and raised his ears. “No?” Thor dropped his head back down onto her thigh, and she let out a sigh, looking down at the tiny Chihuahua laying by her side. “You neither?” She ran her thumb over her head and Ginger simply let out a huffed breath as she scooted closer to her leg. “Alrighty then.” 

Nicole wandered back over to Waverly with a bunch of tired dogs in tow, giving her a smile. “Having fun?”

“Absolutely,” she giggled, wrapping her hands around Thor’s face as she pet him.

Nicole chuckled, pointing to the water bottle sitting next to her. Waverly handed it to her, and she took a drink, wiping her mouth with the sleeve of her jean jacket as she handed it back to her. “I think I wore all of them out,” she chuckled, looking around at all of the senior dogs that were now laying by their feet, one licking the outside of the water bottle in Waverly’s hand. 

“You want some?” she asked as she pet the side of the Boxer-looking mut’s head. She opened the cap and poured some out into her cupped hand, letting it drink some of it. 

“Should I go tell them we’re ready to go?”

“No!” Waverly whined. “We haven’t played with the puppies yet!”

Nicole tipped her head at her with a chuckle. “Wave. We’ve been here for almost three hours.” 

“You promised,” she whined with a pouty lip. 

Nicole sighed with a nod. “I did do that, didn’t I?”

“You did,” she mumbled as she slipped out from under Thor and pushed off the ground. 

“Alright,” Nicole sighed, holding out her hand for her as she turned around. “Let’s go. Birthday Girl wants to play with puppies.”

Waverly grabbed her hand with a giggle as she bounced along behind her, and they informed the lady right inside the door that they had worn out all the older dogs and were ready to do the same with the puppies. Lynn caught back up with them and took them to the area where all the puppies were playing together. It was a little room similar to where the cats had been only bigger and with dog toys and such instead of cats. Waverly let out a happy squeal when she saw the 13 puppies that were in there, hurrying into the room behind Lynn.

“And here we are,” she said with a chuckle as Waverly was immediately on the floor and taking the puppies of all sizes into her arms. “They’re all friendly as far as I know . . . except Jack.” She pointed to a _tiny_ long-haired dapple Dachshund that was huddled in the corner of the room on a dog bed. “He’s _friendly_ but pretty much scared of everything even though he was born here. His momma and siblings have all been adopted, but no one wanted him since he doesn’t like people.” 

“Poor thing,” Waverly mumbled. 

“Yea. Maybe you can work some magic with him like you did Zeke,” Lynn said with a chuckle as she looked towards Nicole.

“Maybe,” she said with a little laugh, and they both gave her a wave as she left them to it. “Oo, hello!” Nicole took about five of the puppies onto her lap. _“Wow,_ there’s a lot of you.” She took a German Shepherd-looking one into her arms with a smile. “Your eyes are fun,” she smiled, noticing one was blue and one was dark brown. Nicole turned him to face Waverly.

“Oo,” she grinned. “That’s cool.” She reached for him when Nicole set him down and he jumped right up on her. 

“And _you_ look like a really fluffy Rottweiler,” Nicole said as she pet the one girl puppy at her side. 

“Maybe she’s a Husky mix or something,” Waverly said with a little smile, watching as she flipped over and got Nicole to pet her belly after gnawing on her finger. 

“Yea,” she mumbled, looking around at all of them. “I honestly couldn’t tell you what most of these are, though.”

“They’re all special in their own way,” Waverly cooed as she pet the largest puppy in the room that looked like a Great Dane of some sort. Nicole chuckled, grabbing the rubber chew toy that was next to her leg and letting the Mister Cool Eyes play with it, a wrinkly faced one joining in on the fun. Waverly grabbed a tennis ball and rolled it across the floor watching the majority that weren’t distracted by Nicole go after it. “See, Baby, puppies are _always_ worth it.”

“Yea, yea,” Nicole sighed, pushing away the slobbery tongue coming at her. “I’m still a cat person, though.”

**4:57 PM**

Waverly smiled, watching Nicole using the Great Dane puppy as a bench press as she sat against the wall with a couple of them play-fighting with each other right in front of her criss-crossed legs. “She likes that,” she chuckled. 

Nicole looked towards her with a smirk. “I know, right?”

Waverly shook her head at her, doing a little bit of the double-take and frowning when she looked over at Jack, who seemed to have not moved a muscle since they had gotten there. She sat forward and crawled a couple of feet towards him before laying on her stomach right in front of the dog bed. “Hi, Baby,” she said softly, smiling a little when he lifted his head to look at her. She moved her arm to put it under her head, but he curled right into himself with a whine. “I not gonna hurt you, I promise.” 

Jack looked at her again, and she smiled as she let out a hum, moving her other hand to rest on the end of the dog bed, sliding it towards him slowly. She stopped it a couple of inches in front of his face and held her pointer finger out towards his nose after a few seconds, watching as he timidly scooted his head towards it to sniff it. “See? It’s ok.” She gently touched the side of his nose, and he pulled his head back with another whine, but she let out a gentle hush. “It’s ok,” she repeated gently, slipping her hand forward and smiling when he allowed her to run her finger up and down the side of his nose.

It took a minute, but she was eventually petting him, able to slide her entire hand down his back. “Such a good boy,” she soothed.

Jack stood up on nervous legs, and Waverly raised her brows as he walked towards her carefully and sniffed her face, grinning wide when he licked her cheek. “Hi,” she giggled, rubbing both thumbs on his sides. She gently sat up and pat her thigh, and he propped his first two feet up on it, his tail wagging behind him. “You want up?” Waverly carefully grabbed him and leaned back against the wall again, holding him to her chest with one hand as she pet him with the other. He was the perfect size to hold at barely as long as her forearm, and he snuggled right into her chest. 

“Damn.” 

Waverly looked up at Nicole, pouting her lip as she hugged him closer. “He’s a sweetie.” She pressed a few kisses to his head before setting him down on both of her thighs on his back and scratching his belly. “Yes! He just needed someone to take their time with him.” 

Waverly saw her and almost stopped it, but the fluffy Rottweiler had walked over and stuck her head right over Jack to sniff him. “Oh no,” Waverly mumbled softly when he let out a whimper and scrambled right to his feet, sliding up under her shirt on her lap. “Bubby, she’s not gonna hurt you.” She tried to uncover him, but he let out another whimper, huddling against her stomach. “Alright,” she sighed as she dropped her shirt back over him, gently running her hand down the other puppy’s back when her ears went down sadly.

Waverly lifted her head when she heard Nicole’s phone ringing, and she watched her push one of the two Jack Russels off her lap so she could get to her pocket. She put the phone to her ear, and Waverly toned her out a bit, paying more attention to the tiny puppy that didn’t want to come out from under her shirt. 

She looked up when she heard her name after a minute, giving her wife a little smile. "We gotta go, Babe." 

"Why?" Waverly asked sadly. 

"'Cause your mom and Gus just got to the Homestead to start on your birthday dinner, so we need to be there in time for it." 

Waverly pursed her lips, hooking her hand under Jack's body and lifting him up with her as she stood. Nicole blinked at her, pulling the front of her shirt forward and peeking down it. "Mr. Houdini is trying to perform a great escape down your shirt." 

Waverly threw her a look. "I'm well aware _Mr. Houdini_ is in my shirt. Thank you, though, Love." Nicole put her hands up with a laugh, and Waverly turned with a sigh, pulling him out from under her shirt and holding him to her chest. "I gotta go bye bye." She pressed a few kisses to his head as she squatted down by the dog bed she had found him in and placed him back on it. She gave him one last gentle pet, trying to figure out why the _fuck_ there were tears in her eyes as she stood back up and turned away from the Dachshund. 

Nicole slipped out the door first after saying goodbye to the puppies and Waverly followed, leaning into her as they walked when she wrapped an arm around her shoulders. 

She looked back, though. 

She hadn't even meant to- Hell, she hadn't even known she _was_ until she was staring back at Jack jumping up and down with his paws on the glass door, whining and crying out for her. 

"Honey, we gotta go," Nicole said softly, pulling at her arm when she had stopped dead in her tracks. 

The tears previously barely holding back in Waverly's eyes were now falling freely down her face as she looked up at her. _"Baby-"_

"Not happening." 

"But-" 

"No," Nicole huffed. 

Waverly pulled from her anyway and rushed back over to the door, cracking it open just enough for him to get out and bending down and picking him up when he jumped at her legs. 

_"Waverly."_

She sunk down against the outside glass wall, hugging Jack to her chest and crying into his fur. 

"What the _hell_ did we agree to before we came in here?" 

Waverly looked up at her, not missing the anger on Nicole's face faltering for a second when she saw the pleading look on her teary face. "I- I didn't mean to, Nic."

Nicole looked away from her, running her hands down her face as she shook her head. "We _cannot_ take him home. Not right now." 

Waverly's lip wobbled again as she looked down at Jack, and he stood up with his paws on her chest, leaning against her and snuggling into her neck. Waverly ran her hand down his back, closing her eyes as she pulled her knees even tighter to her chest. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled barely above a whisper. She sat up after a second and flipped Jack around, choking back tears as she gripped the door handle again to put him back in the room. 

“C’mon,” Nicole mumbled as she pulled up on her arm. 

“I know-” 

“No.” Nicole pushed the door closed before she could set him down and pulled her to her feet, touching her hand to her back and leading her away with a heavy sigh. 

“But-” 

Nicole looked down at her, giving her a small, only _slightly_ annoyed smile. “If my baby wants a puppy, she’s getting a puppy. Mr. Houdini just better be glad he’s cute.” 

Waverly gave her some doe eyes, stopping her and pulling her into a tight one-armed hug. “Thank you.”

Nicole hummed, hooking her finger under her chin and pressing a kiss to her lips. “I love you.” 

Waverly beamed, jumping up on her toes to give her another kiss after she pulled back. “I love you, too.” She looked down at the puppy, bouncing him a little bit. “We’re your new mommies!” She grabbed Nicole’s hand and brought her finger towards him so he could sniff her, letting her pet him after a few seconds when he decided to not be afraid of her considering that Waverly seemed to trust her. 

She smiled as she flopped around his brown and white ears that were way too big for his head. “Hi, Mr. Houdini.”

“That’s not even his-”

“If we’re getting him, I’m naming him Mr. Houdini.” 

Waverly pursed her lips, looking down at him as he shifted to lay back down in her arms. “May I propose _just_ Houdini?” 

“As long as I can still call him _Mr._ Houdini,” Nicole said with a wink, slipping her arm back around her shoulders and leading her towards the front desk.

**6:21 PM**

Nicole parked the car in front of the Homestead, and they both climbed out. Waverly stretched her legs a bit, walking over to the grass and setting Houdini down. “Go potty.” He stared up at her with his ears down. “It’s ok. Momma’s gettin’ you a treat out of your new stuff, ain’t she?” She looked back at Nicole with raised brows, and she let out a dramatic groan as she started to sort through all the new puppy supplies they had stopped at PetSmart for. 

Nicole walked over with half a hunk of some bacon-looking treat, kneeling down and handing it out to the Dachshund. It took a second of him sniffing and inspecting it, but he eventually took it. Waverly smiled with a happy clap. “Good boy, Dini!” 

“Oh yay, he has a nickname already,” Nicole mumbled.

Waverly threw her a look, lifting him up and setting him in her arms. “Tell your son you're sorry you’re crabby about him.”

Nicole looked down at the puppy that was slightly stiff in her arms. She sighed, bringing him up to her face and pressing a few kisses to his head as they began walking towards the Homestead. “I sorry. Mommy’s just not gonna like you very much when she’s all pregnant.”

“I’ll like him more than you,” she grumbled, smirking a little when Nicole looked towards her with a scoff. 

“That’s not very nice.”

“It’s very true, though.” 

Nicole rolled her eyes with a shake of her head, pushing the front door open and letting Waverly in first. “Come hither, peasants!” she called out as she closed it behind her. 

The whole gang- Wynonna with Alice, Doc, Michelle, Gus, Nedley, Chrissy, Jessie with Auggie, Topher, and Julian all wandered out into the living room, most of her eyes widening down at the puppy. 

“Please give a warm, _quiet, and gentle_ welcome to the newest member of the Haught clan.” Nicole smiled as she held him up a little, his new blue tie dye collar jingling around his neck as she did so. “This is Houdini.”

 _“God,_ Haught, you’re so fucking whipped for her,” Wynonna said with a shake of her head and a laugh. 

“Shut up,” she grumbled, handing him over to Waverly. “I’m gonna go get some stuff for him. Just put him in Alice’s play pen thing.” She nodded towards the square plastic area that they used to keep Alice from running wild before turning out the door. 

“How’d you manage that?” Chrissy asked as most of them wandered over to her for a closer look. 

“Some tears and begging. Now here we are.” She smiled as she pushed some kisses to his face.

“Buppy!” Alice squealed as she tried to wiggle out of Wynonna’s arms. 

“Uh-uh, we can see the buppy _after_ we eat,” Wynonna said, handing the squirming little girl over to Doc. “Have fun with that.” She smacked his arm and walked over to Waverly, blinking down at Houdini. 

"Quit glaring at my child." 

"He's almost as cute as _my_ child- And that's 'cause she looks just like me." She went to pet him, but Houdini cowered away from her, stuffing his face into Waverly's chest. 

"He doesn't like people," she mumbled, running her hand down his fluffy, brown and white patched back. 

"Well, everyone likes me." 

Waverly rolled her eyes at her, looking back at Nicole and seeing that her and Nedley were carrying some things in. "No, they don't." 

"Hey!" Wynonna huffed in offense.

Waverly laughed a little as she walked past her, stepping over the playpen wall and setting Houdini down on the floor. "You're gonna hang out in here, ok?" She scratched her fingers on his back, frowning a little when he jumped up on her leg with a whine. "You're ok." 

Nicole set his new bed down, looking up at Waverly. "Put your cardigan on the bed. He might chill out a bit." 

She nodded, shrugging the grey-blue cardigan off and squatting down next to the bed. "Dini, c'mere." She pat the bed and he crawled onto it. She draped the cardigan over him and he settled, curling up underneath it. "There you go." She smiled as she set the little whale stuffed animal next to him, pushing off the floor and stepping out of the playpen. 

Nicole was leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen, and she grabbed Waverly’s wrist as she passed her, pulling her to lean back against her chest so they could let Gus and Michelle set the table for all of them. “What?” Waverly asked, looking up at her as her arm snaked around her middle.

“Are you having fun with your responsible adult decision?”

“Yes, I am actually. Are you having fun with your _gives me whatever I want ‘cause you don’t want me sad_ trait?”

Nicole rolled her eyes with a tiny grin, resting her chin on the top of her head. “I knew I’d come home in two days and see him in my house anyway, so I decided we might as well get him now.” 

“Aw, you _do_ know me,” Waverly cooed. 

“Mhm, I do.”

Waverly turned around in her arms with a hum, cupping her cheeks as she leaned up into a kiss. “I love you. And our new baby.” 

“I love you, too. And our new baby. And . . .” She pressed their foreheads together as she rubbed her thumbs on her stomach. “How many more days until you can test?”

“Eight or nine,” Waverly said with a smile, grabbing her hands and giving them a squeeze. “So not that long.”

“That’s, like . . . _forever.”_

Waverly giggled, pressing another kiss to her lips. “You’ll live.” 

Nicole let out another groan and was going to say something, but a certain annoying Earp piped in before she could. “Can you two _stop_ eating face? You’re makin’ me lose my appetite for all this _vegan_ food I’m already scared to eat.” 

Gus chucked a spoon at her. “Don’t you _dare_ call my food scary, Child.” 

The group finally settled to eat the huge vegan birthday dinner Gus and Michelle had prepared, the majority of the time spent talking about embarrassing stories from when Waverly was a kid.

Which Wynonna had started up, of course. 

After they ate, they all forced Waverly to get the hell out of the kitchen when she tried to help clean up, so she went with Alice into the playpen so she could introduce her to Houdini. He seemed completely horrified by the tiny hands pulling at his ears at first, but soon enough, he was playing fetch with her and the whale stuffed animal. 

Waverly looked up when she saw someone step into the pen, smiling as Jessie sat down on the floor next to her. “Gimme.” She did some grabby hands, grinning when she handed Auggie over. “Oh, he looks so handsome!” She set him down on her thighs and ran her thumbs over the top of his white and grey striped matching shirt and pants she and Nicole had given them at their baby shower for him, smiling at the off-white beanie on his head that Gus had knit for him. 

“He is _crabby,_ that’s what he is.” Jessie handed her the bottle she had brought over and Waverly picked him up and laid him on her arm, poking his lip with the nipple until he stopped whining and took it. “So, uh . . . You’re welcome to use my baby for, uh, _practice_ if you need to.” Waverly looked towards her quickly with wide eyes, trying but failing to fix her expression before Jessie assumed anything. “Ok, I was _kidding,”_ she said with a little laugh. _“Now_ I need to know what’s going on.” 

Waverly shook her head with a shrug. “Nothing.” 

“Wave,” Jessie said with a tip of her head. “Don’t you have a million questions?” 

She pursed her lips, looking down at Auggie and tugging his beanie down more so it didn’t fall off his head. “. . . If I did, I’d ask you first.” 

Jessie nodded with a small smile. “Good to know.” 

"What're we talking about?" 

They both looked up at Chrissy as she climbed over and sat down next to them. Waverly smirked as she nodded towards her hand. "That pretty ring Perry put on your finger." 

Chrissy giggled as she looked down at it. "Ya know, sometimes I don't mind having a fiance on the Forbes list." 

Waverly grinned, leaning back against the plastic wall she was near and looking down at the engagement ring on her own finger. "Yea . . . I don't mind having a filthy rich wife most of the time either." 

"I mean, my hubby did _this,_ so I think I win." Jessie held up her hand, which had a realistic diamond ring tattooed onto it.

"Fair enough," Waverly mumbled. 

“Wavey,” Alice whined as she wandered over to her. 

“What, Honey?” she asked with a soft smile as she looked up at her. 

“Buppy don’t wanna play,” she mumbled. 

She tipped her head a little as she looked down at Houdini, who had just crawled into her lap and laid down. “I think he’s tired now, Sweetie. You wore him out.” 

Alice pouted her lip, walking over and sitting down next to Waverly, leaning into her side. “I wanna play with Buppy.” She furrowed her brows at Auggie. “Why he get comfy pants? Mama yelled at me when I wanted to put on them.”

“‘Cause he’s a baby,” Waverly said with a chuckle as Alice angrily pulled at her jeans. 

“Me, too!” she argued.

“You’re, like, three and a half. Auggie was only born a little over a month ago.” 

Alice glared at him. “I wanna be baby.” 

Waverly shook her head at her with a heavy sigh, leaning down and pressing a kiss to the side of her head. “I’m sorry.” 

Nicole walked over with her arms crossed and a smirk on her lips, raising her brows at Waverly when she met her eyes. “Looks like you’ve got your hands full there.” She flicked her eyes from the newborn getting fed in her arms to the puppy sleeping on her lap to Alice pouting against her side before meeting her eyes again. 

“Seems so,” she mumbled with a little grin.

“Cole,” Alice whined, standing up and putting her arms up as she stood at the edge of the playpen.

Nicole lifted her out and hooked her arm under her butt, looking towards her as she leaned into her shoulder. “What’s wrong, hm?” Alice just pressed her face into her neck. “Would some cake make it better?” She lifted her head right up with a grin. “Thought so.” Nicole looked towards Waverly and wiggled her brows. “Time for cake, Birthday Girl.” 

All of the family gathered around the chocolate cake covered in colorful frosting and rainbow sprinkles. Waverly did a little clap, staring down at the 25 flashy candles that Julian was lighting. “I’m not no professional baker, but I tried my best on it.”

“You made it?” Waverly asked with raised brows. 

He smiled softly. “I did. It’s pretty, ain’t it?” 

Waverly giggled, pulling him into a hug. “It’s very pretty.” She stood up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Sweetheart.” 

Wynonna groaned, “Ok! Ooey gooey time’s over! I want cake!” 

Waverly rolled her eyes, leaning into her father’s side as Happy Birthday started up, and she bent forward and blew out all the candles when they were done singing with a giggle.

“What’d you wish for?” Chrissy asked. 

Waverly flicked her eyes towards Nicole and watched the dimples push onto her face as her eyes went soft before she looked back towards Chrissy with a shrug. “I can’t tell you or it won’t come true.” 

**Thursday, September 18th, 2020 4:41 AM**

“Shh, Dini, Mommy’s sleepin’.” 

Waverly opened her eyes a little when she heard some more yapping, not really seeing anything in the dark until Houdini was set right in front of her. She let out a hum, lifting the blanket so he could curl into her front how he always liked to. He calmed down and settled with his back against her, and she wrapped her arm around him, smiling sleepily as he tipped his head back and licked her chin. 

“I’m sorry, Baby. I let him outside, but I didn’t want him to wake you up like that,” Nicole mumbled. 

“It’s ok,” she yawned. “Goin’ to work?” 

“Yea, it's almost 5.” Nicole knelt down in front of her and rubbed her thumb on her cheek. “I’ll see you later, ok?” 

“Mhm.” She smiled softly when Nicole pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“I love you.” 

“Love you, too.” 

Nicole pushed off the floor, giving Houdini a pet and reaching over Waverly to give each of the cats one, too. “Get some more sleep, ok? You’ve still got an hour or so.” 

“I will,” Waverly mumbled, already feeling her eyes being pulled shut again. 

“M’kay.” Nicole turned out of the room, and Waverly let out a heavy breath as she relaxed back into bed with the _plan_ to go back to sleep. 

Her eyes slowly opened again not too long after she heard the front door click closed, though, and she let out a groan as she flicked the blanket off of herself and stumble-ran to the bathroom. She slid on her sweatpants-covered knees towards the toilet and grabbed ahold of it as she immediately emptied just about anything and everything that was in her stomach into it. 

Waverly slowly sat back on her heels and let out a shaky breath, flicking her eyes around before jumping up and ripping the mirror cabinet open and searching around. She groaned in annoyance, dropping down and pulling open the two cabinets under the sink, nudging Houdini out of the way when he tried to climb in it. "Where the _hell-"_ She grabbed a box that was shoved in the back with a relieved breath. 

Whatever the _hell_ had just happened to her seemed a whole lot like morning sickness and that only meant _one_ thing. 

Probably. 

_Hopefully._

Waverly ripped the box open and did everything she needed to do with it, setting it down on the counter before dropping back to the floor and pressing her back to the wall with her knees to her chest. She didn't want to look at it until she knew it was done. She wasn't even fucking around with one of the line ones that could be a _maybe that is a second line._ Nope. When they had gone out and bought a handful, they had gotten the digital ones because they wanted either a yes or a no. 

And sure, she _probably_ should have called up Nicole the second she thought something was up, but _technically_ she had thought something was up since two days before. 

AKA when she had a panic attack when Nicole told her she was going to work because she got worried something would happen to her for literally no reason at all. She had _never_ had a problem like that before, but for some reason, she had broken down in tears and not been able to breathe the second she left. The only thing she had wanted to blame it on was pregnancy hormones, but she wasn't going to go there. Not yet.

Throughout the entire process, she hadn't got her hopes up _once._ She _knew_ the first attempt was like a shot in the dark, and she wasn't going to set herself up for disappointment if it was nothing. 

Because, up until two days ago, she hadn't felt _anything_ different. 

But even _then,_ she hadn't gotten herself in the headspace that she was most definitely pregnant. 

Hell, even _now_ she wasn't. 

She truly didn't get herself into that headspace until she had nudged all three animals off her lap as she pushed up off the floor and saw _Pregnant_ written in black, digital letters across the screen of the test.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well WELCOME TO THE FAMILY HOUDINI AND ALSO HAUGHT POCKET (before ANYONE comes at me saying it's rare to have symptoms like that this early, TRUST ME, I KNOW ;) )  
> Also, if you wanna know what Houdini looks like, just look up long haired chocolate dapple dachshund. The one I based him off is like the fourth pic that comes up with the white patch on it's back :D  
> Lmao, hop on, this baby train is fuckin rollin', y'all!  
> How in the hell is she gonna tell Nicole?? FIND OUT NEXT CHAPPPPPP


	6. It’s ‘Cause I Love You, Jackass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> H A U G H T P O C K E T

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY  
> Anyway, I'm back on my bullshit  
> YES, I KNOW WE HAVEN'T UPLOADED LOOKING TO BELONG OR LUCKY STRIKE AND I USUALLY DO THAT BEFORE I UPLOAD A NEW CHAP OF THIS, OK, IT'S NOT MY FAULT FOR EITHER  
> Anyway, hopefully new chaps for those come very soon :)
> 
> ANYWHO  
> Here's this one. It's kinda short compared to the rest of the chaps on this fic, but its almost 6k words, so not really actually.  
> I hope y'all don't think the last part is dumb and if you do, oh well.  
> ENJOY

**Thursday, September 18th, 2020 5:29 AM**

Waverly assumed she probably looked like a fucking _lunatic_ right now, but she really didn't care. There she sat on the same spot on the floor that she had been before, except now it was about an hour later, and instead of _one_ positive pregnancy test, she had _four_ positive pregnancy tests laid out on the floor surrounding her. She had of course double-checked after the first one because she was so in shock that she hadn't been able to have _any_ kind of reaction to it except the continuous tears running down her face until she had seen another positive one. 

So now there she was after _quadruple checking, still_ crying as she explained to all three of the animals that they were going to be big siblings. 

“Can you guys handle that?” she asked, looking around at them and grabbing Geronimo’s paw before he could swipe at one of the tests. Calamity let out a meow, and Waverly smiled, wiping her face with the collar of her t-shirt. “Ok, good.” She let out a shaky breath as she looked around at the four pieces of plastic that had just flipped her life upside down. She gathered them up and stood up on wobbly legs, flicking the light off in the bathroom as she walked out and headed into the bedroom, setting them all down on the dresser. “Now I need to shower and figure out how I’m gonna tell your momma.” 

At this point, she didn’t know if she was talking to the animals or the _baby,_ but she knew she was speaking aloud nonetheless. 

**9:52 AM**

“So when, uh, Henry Hudson was on- it’s called the Hudson Bay now, but before it was just . . . well, it was nothing. It wasn’t _discovered_ yet, Waverly.” She shook her head, laughing a little as she turned from the Smart Board and looked out at her class as they all giggled a little bit. 

“That’s, like, the third time today,” one of them said with a laugh. “Are you good?” 

Waverly let out a raspberry as she leaned forward on her podium with a smile and a shake of her head. “My brain’s, like, all the way on Neptune today, I’m sorry.” 

“Does that mean we can take a break until it comes back?” a different student asked with a grin. 

She leaned her cheek on her fist as she stared at him for a couple of seconds before shrugging and standing back up straight. “Sure, why not.” 

It seemed to take them _all_ by surprise because it took a second before any of them had a reaction to it, and a bunch of ‘ _Really?’s_ and ‘ _Wait, actually?’s_ came flying at her. She nodded as she walked around her desk and dropped down onto her chair. “Yea. I’ve got something else for us to do.” 

“If you say _Disney Kahoot,_ I swear-” 

“We’re doing a _Disney Kahoot!”_ she grinned as she pulled up the trivia game, hearing the music begin to blast throughout the room. She turned it down a little bit, watching them all pull out their laptops and logging on so they could join the game with only a _couple_ grumbles of complaints. “Top three get bonus points on this unit’s test.” 

That surely fixed every sour puss’ attitude. 

They all played through the game, Waverly only having to yell at them a _couple_ of times when a lot of them missed some questions that were _easy_ in her opinion. 

Like, c’mon, who _didn’t_ know Carl’s wife in _Up_ was named Ellie. 

Right before the bell rang, she had crowned the top three winners and noted to give them their extra points, then sending her third-hour class on their merry way. 

Waverly relaxed back in her seat for a minute, thanking the heavens, like usual, that she had her prep period _right_ before lunch. She grabbed a stack of the homework from the night before and pulled it in front of her, plugging an AirPod into her ear as she leaned back in her chair and pulled the papers into her lap, using her thigh as a table when she propped her foot up on her chair.

It seemed her brain had been missing from her skull all day it seemed, and it only got worse as the day went on, and it was getting closer to when she knew Nicole was coming in to have lunch with her like she did every day to have lunch with her. Sometimes she would get there during her prep, sometimes she would get there when her lunch started. It all depended on the day and what Nicole was doing at work, so Waverly really didn’t know when she was going to pop in.

But either way, she was terrified. 

She wasn’t sure how she was going to be able to sit there in front of her and _not_ act like she didn’t know that she was pregnant. She had already decided on how she was going to tell her, and it involved waiting until _after_ school was over for Nicole to get home after she got off at five.

So that meant she had from three to five to pull it off.

Waverly had gotten through about half the stack when she heard a soft knock on her door. She looked up and saw Nicole walking in with a smile. Her stomach bubbled with nerves, but she wiped the look that came with it off her face and replaced it with a smile in return as she took the AirPod out and dropped it back into the case. “Hi, Honey.”

“Hey, Babe,” Nicole said as she walked over and set the bag of food on her desk, furrowing her brow a little as she took a seat on the corner of it. “You ok?” 

Waverly nodded, pushing out of her chair. “I’m perfect.” She grabbed the food bag and pulled it towards her. “What d’ya get me?” 

“Veggie burger ‘n fries from Shorty’s.” 

Waverly’s stomach rolled over at just the _thought_ of that. “What d’ya get you?” 

“Grilled chicken sandwich- Hey, you want me to go and grab you something else real fast?” Nicole rolled her thumb over her knuckles when she grabbed her hand, not having missed the look that passed over Waverly’s face that she had tried to hide. 

She shook her head, giving her a smile. “No, I’m just not that hungry. I’ll just have the fries and keep the burger in the teacher’s lounge for tomorrow maybe.” 

“You sure?” Nicole asked softly. 

“Yea, Baby,” she assured, giving her hand a squeeze. “I’m just not really hungry.”

“Ok,” Nicole sighed. “If you say so.” Waverly gave her thigh a rub as she walked past her, walking over to the door and closing it, locking it and putting her window strip up that had a _come back later, I’m busy_ message on it. “What’re you doin’?” Nicole questioned slowly. 

Waverly walked back over to her with a sigh, stepping between her knees and wrapping her in a hug. “I just wanna have lunch ‘n not be bothered like we usually are.” 

Nicole slipped her arms around her middle, giving her a squeeze as she ran her hand up and down her back. “Alright . . .” She pushed her back, sliding her hands up to cup her cheeks. “Are you sure you’re ok?” 

“I promise,” Waverly said with a chuckle, drooping her arms around her neck.

Nicole slipped her hands down to her hips, nodding with a sigh, _“Ok.”_

Waverly hummed as she leaned into a kiss, slipping her arms off and sliding one of her hands down her tie before pulling away. She grabbed Nicole’s hand and the bag of food, pulling her along behind her as she wandered over to the beanbag corner. She dropped down onto the big one and curled up on it, and Nicole huffed as she sat on the smaller one. “I see how it is.” 

“If ya snooze, ya loose,” she smirked, handing her styrofoam box and taking her own, setting it on the ground next to her. She popped the lid and turned it so the fries were closer to her and the burger was _further_ from her considering that she wanted nothing to do with it. “So what d’you do today?” Waverly asked after she took a bite off the fry and swallowed, smiling when she realized it _didn’t_ make her stomach do a double backflip.

Nicole let out a chuckle, tipping her head back against the beanbag with a groan, “Oh _god.”_

“What?” Waverly laughed. 

“So . . . we got a call from the high school about two senior girls that didn’t show up for class, but they had security cam footage of them leaving together that morning in the school parking lot. They weren’t answering the school's or their parent’s calls, so they asked us to track ‘em down.”

“That sounds fun,” Waverly mumbled.

She shook her head with a roll of her eyes. “It wasn’t. Finally, we got a hit and someone spotted their car on the highway _back_ from Calgary, though, so I drove that way, whipped it around when I saw them, and flicked my lights ‘n stuff on. They looked like they contemplated tryna get away, but they pulled over. I got out and walked over, and, _God,_ the car just _reeked_ of pot . . .”

**9:44 AM**

_"Jeez,"_ Nicole coughed as she waved the lingering smoke coming from the car out of her face. "How the hell can you even drive trying to see through all that?" she asked the blue-eyed brunette in the driver's seat as she had _major_ flashbacks to when she had pulled over and arrested Scotty Schlemmer a few years back. 

"It's an acquired talent," she answered with a grin. 

Nicole raised her brows boredly with a nod. "I see . . . Ya know, the two of you are _supposed_ to be in school _learning,_ not going 90 down a freeway and getting higher than kites." 

The blonde in the passenger's seat looked like she wanted _nothing_ to do with Nicole, but the driver seemed to be a _whole_ lot more interested. "Yea, well . . . Now we're here with you, so. . ." 

"Mhm." She leaned her arm against the top of the blue SUV's door frame and stared down at her. "I'm gonna need both your IDs." 

"Why mine?" the blonde asked, finally speaking up with wide eyes. 

"Because if either of you are _minors,_ you're gonna be in even _more_ trouble."

They both dug some identification out, and the blonde begrudgingly handed her's over first. Nicole let out a hum as she leaned down to look at her. "I bet you're wishing it was Halloween, huh?" _Emma Kerber_ was born on October 30th, but she was still only 17. Emma crossed her arms and looked away from her, sinking down in her car seat. 

"Lucky for you, Sheriff, I ain't no minor." 

Nicole grimaced at the wink _Gwen Garland_ shot her, looking down to see that she had _just_ turned 18 the week before with a birthday on the same day as Wynonna's. "I would say lucky you, but you're stoned and driving, so that's already a DUI." 

She let out a whine. "Wh- _Sheriff."_

"Don't look at me," she huffed. "I ain't the one who decided to skip school to go buy some pot." She leaned back, seeing the plastic bag with it trying to be hidden under a jacket on the back seat. 

"Can we make a deal?" Gwen asked with a hopeful smile. 

"Nope," Nicole grumbled, pushing both IDs into one hand and grabbing her radio with the other. "Haught to dispatch." 

"Go ahead, Sheriff." 

"I've got the missing seniors. Can you go ahead and let the school know? I ain't letting them go anywhere with this 10-55." 

"10-4, Sheriff."

Nicole hooked her radio back on her shirt, looking down at them both with raised brows as she pushed their IDs in one of her pockets. "I'm gonna need both of you to step out of the car for me. Just keep your hands where I can see 'em." She walked around to the hood of the car with one of her thumbs hooked on her belt, waiting for them both to climb out and walk around to her. "Where I can see them," she grumbled when Gwen had her hands pushed into the back pockets of her jeans. 

"Does that mean you wanna see my ass?" 

Nicole blinked at her in surprise for a good couple second before hitching a lip and shaking her head. "Absolutely not." 

"Oo, you contemplated it," she said with a wide smile. 

"Not for a _second_ , now let me see your _hands."_

Gwen sighed, pulling her hands out of her pockets and dropping them to her sides. "Yes, Daddy." 

Nicole glared at her. "Stop." 

"Aw, why?" she asked with a pout. 

"Because you're, like, a child. And even if I _was_ a gross 30 year old that was fine with taking advances from _barely_ an adult, I'm _married._ So like I said. _Stop._ It ain't gonna work." She let out a pissed off breath as she stepped closer to them. "Empty your pockets and set everything up on here." She gave the hood a pat.

Emma began doing so, setting her phone, a lanyard with keys on it, a chapstick container, and a Juul up there before leaning back against the hood with a shaky sigh. Nicole shook her head, moving the vape a little further out of her reach. “Do any of you teens _not_ vape these days?” She looked towards Gwen, raising her brows at her as she nodded towards the hood. “C’mon.” 

“No.” 

_“No?”_ Nicole repeated. 

“I guess you’re gonna have to pat me down,” she sighed. 

Nicole locked and unlocked her jaw in annoyance. “You wanna be charged with failure to obey an officer? ‘Cause I’m _just_ about done with you.” 

“Gwen,” Emma huffed. “Can you just stop being a creep and _listen_ for once?” 

She pursed her lips at her, letting out a heavy sigh as she did so, dropping her own phone, a pen, her own Juul, and two scrunchies onto the hood. “There.” 

_“Thank you,”_ Nicole sighed. “Now stay here unless you want me to lose my shit on y’all.” She pulled gloves on and began searching the car, finding nothing but a box of vape pods, a charger for it, and the about quarter-pound of weed that was hidden along with a bowl under a the jacket. Technically since the car was Gwen’s and she was 18, everything inside was in her possession and they wouldn’t be able to charge her for any of the vape stuff, but the rest was fair game. 

Nicole furrowed her brows after setting everything down onto the hood, flicking her eyes towards Emma, whose hands were shaking as she chewed her thumb with tears rolling down her cheeks. “Hey . . .” 

“Am I in trouble?” she asked softly with a shake to her voice. 

“Not as much as her,” Nicole mumbled, nodding towards Gwen. 

“Am I going t-to jail?” 

Nicole furrowed her brow with a shake of her head. “All you’ve got is vape possession and underage cannabis use, you’ll probably just have to take some rehab classes and do some community service.”

Emma seemed to have held everything in since the second they had gotten pulled over up until now because she was officially losing it. Nicole sighed, glancing towards Gwen. _“Stay here,_ understand?” She nodded with a roll of her eyes, and Nicole held her tongue, gently dropping her hand to Emma’s shoulder and leading her to the back of her Tahoe.

“Oh my God,” she said through a choked breath and wide eyes, leaning into her to distance herself from the car. 

“Shh, it’s ok.” Nicole slid her hand up and down her arm a few times. “Just sit for a sec.” Emma took a moment, but she eventually peeled from her side and took a seat in the car, still facing Nicole. She opened the front door real quick to grab a box of tissues and handed them to her as she knelt down in front of her. “Look at me.” The teen did as she curled more in on herself. “I’m gonna say it’s safe to assume this wasn’t your idea?” She quickly shook her head. “You didn’t even want to come, did you?” 

“She made me,” Emma huffed as she wiped her face. “God, she makes me do _everything.”_

“How so?” 

“She’s the one who made me start vaping. I- I didn’t want to, but she made me try it, and then I got addicted ‘cause she kept yelling at me each time I told her I didn’t wanna do it. Same with this, b-but I’ve only smoked weed, like, three times now.” 

Nicole sighed with a shake of her head. “You shouldn’t be friends with people like that.” 

“I know,” she mumbled. 

“. . . So did she buy the pot?” Emma furrowed her brows a little, and Nicole recognized the look on her face as contemplation. “We’re gonna figure it out somehow, you’re better off telling me everything now.”

“But-”

“Emma, she doesn’t care about you and you _know_ it. You don’t need to be scared of her. She can’t do anything about anything you tell me.” 

She let out a shaky breath, leaning her head against the headrest and closing her eyes as more tears slipped out with a sob. “S- She made me pull money from my bank account and just told me she’d pay me back later.”

Nicole let out a sad sigh. “So it was _all_ your money?” 

“Yea, b-but she’s the one that talked to the guy and got the bag. I- I don’t- I didn’t do any of that.”

“Your money, but _she_ made the purchase,” Nicole said with a nod in understanding.

“D- Is-” Emma covered her mouth. “Is it on me then?”

Nicole quickly shook her head. “You didn’t have anything to do with the purchase. Just the funding. As far as you know, it was just a loan that you _can_ sue to get her to pay back . . . ‘Cause that was probably 5 or 6 hundred, right?” 

“Yea,” she said softly, wiping her face again.

“Thought so.” She gave the girl’s knee a squeeze before pushing to her feet. “I’ll be right back, ok? I need to deal with . . . _her.”_ Emma stared up at her with nervous eyes. “I’m gonna shut this door, alright?” 

“Why?” she asked softly. 

“‘Cause we’re on the side of the highway and I don’t want anyone stopping and trying to get to you.” Emma nodded, turning her body so her legs weren’t hanging outside of the door, and Nicole shut it, letting out a puff of air as she walked back over to the front of the blue SUV. She glared at Gwen the second she rounded the front, snatching the vape out of her hand and smacking it down into the hood. “Seriously?” 

Gwen slowly let out a puff of smoke, blinking slowly at her. “What?” 

“Don’t _what_ me.” She stopped in front of her and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “I want to know _why_ you needed to buy a _quarter-pound_ of pot.” Gwen shrugged, mimicking her stance. “Were you gonna sell it?” 

“I dunno.”

 _“Don’t_ give me that bullshit. What were you gonna do with it? Just keep it all for yourself?” 

“I dunno.”

Nicole glared at her. “Would you just tell me?”

Gwen licked her lips, smirking as she reached out and ran her fingers down her tie, flicking her eyes back up to her’s. “Make me.” 

Nicole pushed her hand off. “Alright-” Nicole grabbed her upper arm and turned her around, pressing her front down onto a clear spot on the hood of the car. “Hands behind your back. _Now.”_ Nicole couldn’t see it, but there was a smirk on her face. Gwen only put on hand behind her back, waiting for the moment that she let out a huff and leaned forward to grab her other hand to slip the one behind her back down to grab the front of her belt and tug her forward, causing her to stumble towards her right as Gwen pressed her ass back against her front. 

Nicole let out a growl in annoyance, slapping the metal on her wrists as she continued to wiggle back against her before grabbing her by the back of the shirt and hauling her upright, spinning her around and getting in her face. “You wanna _act_ grown, I’ll _treat_ you like you’re grown. How’s that sound?” Nicole watched fear roll over her face for the very first time. “Not _only_ are you gonna get your license taken away for the DUI, but you _might_ do some jail time for the _multiple_ weed charges, _and_ you’re gonna have to pay Emma back for the money you made her take out of her account. _Oh,_ not to _mention_ the police harassment _and_ failure to obey an officer charges I might tack on ‘cause of your _fuckin’_ attitude.” She watched Gwen swallow, her eyes having widened with every word that came out of her mouth. “Tell me, does all this make you feel _cool?_ ‘Cause to _me_ that’s what it seems like you were getting at. Am I wrong?” 

She clenched her jaw, leaning back a little bit more on the car hood to distance herself from her. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled.

“You’re _sorry?”_ Nicole asked with brows to her hairline, and Gwen slowly nodded. “You should’ve thought about that before. The _real_ person you need to be sorry to is _Emma._ She’s your best friend and _terrified_ of you and what you’ll do to her if she doesn’t listen to you.” 

“No, she’s not,” she huffed. 

“She _just_ told me she was.” Gwen flicked her eyes in the direction of the Tahoe, and Nicole saw tears swarm her eyes. “This is the _real_ world, Kid, and you need a _fucking_ reality check.” She grabbed her arm and pulled her off of the car. “Gwen Garland, you’re under arrest for driving under the influence, possession of cannabis, possession with the intent to distribute, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Maybe more, _who knows._ You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be held against you in the court of law . . .” Nicole droned on as she walked her back to her Tahoe and shoved her in the side opposite to Emma, letting out a huffed breath as she slammed the car door and walked around to the trunk to get some evidence bags. 

**10:57 AM**

“And . . . then I took them back to the station and let the deputies and their parents deal with them . . . Honestly, I don’t know what it is with me and having to deal with shithead kids lately. First Lucas, now her.” 

Waverly slowly chewed a fry, blinking at her for a few more seconds. “. . . She’s legally an adult, and that means I can roundhouse her ass for grinding on my wife.” 

Nicole chuckled a little with a shake of her head. “Like, I don’t know what she was trying to get out of me. I wasn’t just gonna _let_ them go.” 

Waverly sighed, relaxing back against the beanbag. “So are you actually adding on those charges for being a bitch or were those just threats.” 

“As long as her parents decide not to be assholes and prove to me that they realize their daughter _actually_ did something wrong, I won’t.” Nicole finished off the last of her sandwich. “‘Cause, to be honest, I _don’t_ wanna go to court.” 

Waverly giggled, climbing off the beanbag and crawling on over to Nicole. She snuggled into her front, smiling as she inhaled her radiating vanilla scent. Nicole ran her hand up and down her back, and she let out a hum. _“This_ is why I wanted the door closed.” 

“Cuddles?” Nicole asked as she pressed a lazy kiss to the top of her head. 

“Mhm.”

They laid there for a few minutes in silence, just enjoying one another’s company and warmth. Nicole broke the silence as she pulled her fingers through her hair. “D’you end up getting back to sleep this morning?” 

Waverly’s eyes shot open, but she looked up at her with a smile. “Yea. Why?” 

Nicole narrowed her eyes at her playfully. _“Did you?”_

“Yes,” Waverly laughed, sliding her hand down her bicep. “A warm Dini in my arms and kitties against my back put me right to sleep.” She slid her hand back up and straightened her collar a bit. “I prefer a warm Cole wrapped around me every morning, though.”

Nicole let out a sigh, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I’m workin’ on gettin’ my schedule changed, Baby. I promise. I hate waking you up every morning.” 

“It’s not _you,_ it’s Mr. _Bark until I get what I want.”_

Nicole chuckled with a shake of her head. “I tell him _every time_ I let him inside to be quiet ‘cause I’m takin’ him _right_ to his mommy, but he don’t listen.”

Waverly giggled against her lips when she leaned into a kiss. “I know you do, Honey.” Nicole cupped her cheek before sliding her hand down to her hip and pulling her closer for a second. She pulled back, smiling softly at her as they just looked at one another. Waverly ran her thumb across her cheekbone, sliding it down and over the dimple popped out on her cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you more.”

Waverly shook her head, pressing a peck to the tip of her nose. _“Impossible.”_

Nicole hummed, slipping her hand up the bottom of her shirt and running it over her stomach before sliding it around to her back. “Nope.”

“You think so?” Waverly asked with a raise of her brows. 

“I do,” Nicole smirked. 

“Hm, well. I guess to _prove_ it you could go take my burger to the teacher’s lounge for me and grab me a Coke from the vending machine.”

Nicole cocked a brow at her. “You don’t like Coke, though.”

“Sure, I do.” 

Nicole stared at her for a few seconds. “. . . No, you don’t. You say it’s _too spicy.”_

Waverly glared at her. “Don’t you want to prove you love me?”

“I’m just trying to figure out if this is a trick question or not,” she mumbled.

“It’s _not!”_ Waverly groaned. “I just wanna Coke.” 

Nicole sighed, pushing off of the beanbag and gathering both of their food boxes from the floor. “Alright, fine. One Coca-Cola for my baby who doesn’t like Coke.”

Waverly giggled, standing up and pressing up on her toes to kiss her. “Thank you, Baby.” 

“You’re welcome, My Love.” 

Waverly felt her cheeks burning bright red as Nicole turned and headed for the door, and she smiled with a happy heart as she walked back over to her desk and sat down. She propped her elbow up on the arm of her chair and leaned the side of her head against it, thinking over the point Nicole had made. 

Waverly _knew_ she didn’t like Coke.

But that’s what she wanted.

**5:20 PM**

Waverly let out a wince, pulling her thumb from her mouth when she felt the mix of pain and copper hitting her tongue. She let out a sigh, flicking her eyes back up to the TV and trying to relax back on the couch. 

She hadn’t thought that the suspense of waiting for Nicole to get home from work was going to take such a toll on her, but, _God,_ how it was. 

Waverly had gotten _everything_ set up for the reveal and now all she needed was for her wife to get home, preferably _not_ late, but of course she was. Any other night, she was fine with her being home late, but that was any other night. She was a Sheriff, so sometimes things just couldn’t wait to be done the next day.

Waverly heard the sound of a car door shut a few minutes later, and she felt a mix of nerves and excitement fill her body as she leaped off the couch and bounced over to the door. Nicole jumped when she saw her on the other side of the door when she opened it, dropping her hand that had gone right to her holster with a shake of her head and a laugh. “You scared me, Babe.”

“Sorry,” she giggled, sliding her hands down her chest as she pressed a kiss to her lips, pulling her through the door and slowly turning her around. She pulled from her, grinning at her as she dropped back to the flats of her feet. “I got you a present.” 

“Considering there’s only _one_ canine jumping at my leg right now, I’m gonna assume it’s _not_ another puppy.” She reached down and picked up Houdini. “Hi, Bud.” 

“Unfortunately not, no.” 

_“Unfortunately,”_ Nicole echoed in a deadpan, trying to keep the puppy’s tongue out of her mouth.

Waverly threw her a look, pulling Houdini out of her arms and pressing a few kisses to his head before setting him back on the ground. _“Anyway.”_ She grabbed Nicole’s hands and put them over her eyes. “No peeking.”

“Oh, jeez,” Nicole mumbled as she was turned around and walked further into the house. “Are you gonna walk me up the steps and push me out the window?”

“I’m about to if you don’t shut up,” she grumbled, continuing to walk her forward up to the kitchen island.

“What’s the occasion for said present?” Nicole questioned. “I didn’t forget an anniversary or something, did I?” 

Waverly tightened her grip on her hips. “I don’t know, Nicole, _did you?”_

 _“No,”_ she huffed. “Seriously, though. What’s it for?” 

“It’s ‘cause I love you, Jackass.” She walked her forward a couple of more steps. “Ok, look.” 

Nicole pulled her hands away from her eyes, widening them with a grin as she walked forward another step. _“Oo!”_

“Matching shoes!” Waverly grinned from behind her. 

“I was wanting these!” Nicole said excitedly as she pulled her pair of rainbow checkered Vans out of the box and looked them over. “Now we can be all gay together.”

“Right?” Waverly giggled. 

Nicole continued looking them over with a giddy grin, doing a double-take on the right shoe when she saw something on the bottom. She furrowed her brow at the pink sticky note that had the non-sticky side taped down to the bottom of the shoe so it stayed on there. She read the _turn around_ that was scribbled onto it in Waverly’s handwriting, so she did so with a raised brow in confusion.

Nicole’s eyes landed on her wife and she looked down at her hands that she was holding up in front of her, feeling the shoes she was holding slip from her fingertips. 

Sitting on Waverly’s palms were an _itty bitty_ pair of rainbow checkered Vans.

And the end of a pregnancy test was sticking out of one of them.

Nicole glanced up at her for a millisecond as she stepped towards her and snatched the test out of the shoe, feeling the tears rush into her eyes when she read the word on the screen. She snapped her eyes up to meet Waverly’s, covering her hand over her mouth. “Really?” 

Waverly nodded with a teary laugh. “Yea, really.” 

Nicole said _something_ that got lost in translation between the tears falling down her face and the way she had dove forward and lifted Waverly off the ground with her arms around her waist. Waverly was crying now, too, as Nicole spun them around a few times. Waverly gripped onto the tiny shoes in her hands as she wrapped her arms around her shoulders and brought her legs up to grip around her hips. Nicole had somehow walked them back behind the couch and she dropped down onto the floor with her back against it, squeezing Waverly tighter as she full-on sobbed into her shoulder. 

Waverly had thought she had gotten it all out that morning, but here she was crying again along with her. She pushed her hand into the back of Nicole’s hair after dropping the baby shoes to her lap, pulling herself together enough to try and get Nicole to do the same. She got her to loosen her death grip around her waist, cupping Nicole’s face when she sat back.

Nicole sucked in a shaky breath as she met her eyes. “W- We’re gonna be mommies?” 

“Yea,” Waverly nodded with a beaming smile as she wiped her thumbs under Nicole’s eyes. 

“That’s terrifying,” Nicole laughed with a sniffle. 

Waverly snorted, pressing their foreheads together. “I know . . . We’ve got it, though.” 

Nicole sniffled again, cupping her hands around the sides of her neck and pulling her into a deep kiss. She pulled back after a few seconds and leaned back against the back of the couch, grabbing the tiny shoes and feeling new tears rolling down her cheeks. “They’re so little,” she mumbled, bringing them closer to her face before looking up at Waverly’s admiring gaze. 

“I was _this_ close to having a breakdown in the mall earlier over them.” 

Nicole chuckled, wiping her face with her sleeve and shaking her head at her in confusion. “When did you even find out?” 

Waverly smiled a little, pushing her hands through her hair again. “. . . This morning.” 

Nicole widened her eyes at her. “Like- When? After you woke up or whatever?”

She slowly shook her head. “I . . . I got hit with some hella morning sickness right after you left.”

“Isn’t it early for that?” Nicole mumbled with a furrow of her brow. 

“Apparently, I dunno. I’ve got a doctor’s appointment tomorrow, so I’ve already called off work for the morning.”

Nicole nodded, looking down at the tiny shoes in her hand and slowly shaking her head as she looked back up at her. “How in the _hell_ did you keep it from me all day?”

“I don’t know honestly, I was so scared you were gonna figure it out.” 

“You were being _weird,_ so I was kinda thinking something must be up, but I didn’t think you _knew_ already.” Nicole smiled as she leaned into another kiss, giggling as she kicked her legs out in front of her. “Oh my _God,_ there’s a _baby_ in you!” She set the shoes down next to her and looped her arm around her back, leaning her back to lay on the floor and pushing her shirt up to drop a bunch of kisses to her stomach. “Hi, Haught Pocket,” she said softly as she rubbed her thumbs on her sides. “I knew you was in there.” 

Waverly pouted her lip at her, slowly pushing her fingers through her hair. “Nic . . .”

Nicole pressed a couple more kisses to her stomach. “I’m your momma. I think you know your mommy since you’re all up in her.” Waverly giggled at that. “. . . I’ma tell ya right now. You and your mommy are the two most important things to me out of _everything_ in this world. _Everything._ So I’m gonna do everything in my power to protect both of you and make sure you’re _always_ safe, I promise.” 

Waverly ran her fingers through her hair again, a tear rolling down her cheek as she smiled at her. Nicole returned it, scooting back up her body and dropping a kiss to the corner of her mouth. “I love you,” Waverly mumbled as she wrapped her arms around her. 

Nicole kissed her, wiping another tear from her cheek. “I love you, too . . . And our Haught Pocket.”

Waverly shook her head with a wide smile as she wiped at her eyes. “And our Haught Pocket.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was that soft enough for all of you? I hope so.
> 
> My dad is having a party tomorrow night, so if I get covid it's his fault hahahahahahahahahahahaha


	7. I Always Knew You Were a Unicorn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waverly and Nicole are off to the doctor to get some answers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aye wassup y'all  
> I'm writing these notes with my eyes on my google meets class, the election poll numbers, and this page, so sorry if I'm making this short. Pretty worried I might be hate crimed considering what the results are looking like right now, but let's hope not lmaoo  
> ANYWAY  
> This chap is almost 10k, so you're welcome, but also, I'm sorry  
> It's a roller coaster  
> Who is shocked?  
> No one? Didn't think so  
> Hope you like it! I've got a feeling it might throw you for a loop  
> Also sorry to anyone that doesn't like things that talk about puke lmao. She's pregnant, what can I say

**Friday, September 19th, 2020 7:58 AM**

Nicole relaxed in the silence of the unnaturally dark room thanks to the black-out curtains pulled shut in front of the window to her back. The only sounds were Waverly’s quiet breathing as she laid asleep with her back pressed against Nicole’s front and the occasional sound of Houdini’s feet pedaling against the sheets as he ran in his sleep.

Nicole had gotten so used to waking up before the ass crack of dawn that she had probably woken up a little less than an hour before. Sure, she had nodded off again a few times between then and now, but she had been awake for the most part. Waverly looked so peaceful where she was, so she hadn’t dared to move. Plus she knew she had been missing waking up in her arms lately, so now that her work schedule was changed again finally, she was going to make sure there wasn’t a day that she didn’t.

She ran her thumb gently in patterns against the warm skin of Waverly’s stomach since she had woken up with her hand up under the bottom of her hoodie, continuing to be lost in thought about anything and everything. She had _just_ about dozed off again when she jumped a little at the sound of their alarm going off.

Waverly let out a little whine, reaching forward and pulling her sleeve up from being over her hand as she grabbed her phone and turned it off. She set her phone back on the nightstand, flipping over and curling into Nicole’s chest. Nicole smiled softly, pulling the quilt higher on them as she wrapped her arm around her and pressed her lips against her forehead. “Mornin’,” she mumbled, her voice deep and cracking from sleep.

The rumble of it against the top of her head sent a chill down Waverly’s spine, and she let out a soft sigh as she pressed her face into her neck. “Morning.” She felt little paws jump up onto her side, laughing sleepily as she wiggled her arm out from under the blanket and scooped her hand under Houdini to lift him over her, letting him settle between them. “Morning, Dini."

The puppy pressed his back against Nicole's chest as he licked Waverly's face, tipping his head back to lick Nicole's as well. "Hi, Bud," she chuckled, giving his belly a pat. 

Houdini settled down after a few more seconds, still staying cuddled up against Nicole. Waverly reached out for her face in the darkness of the room and cupped her cheek, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to her lips. "Mm . . . I missed this." 

Nicole ran her hand up and down her back with a smile. "Me, too, Baby." 

Waverly dropped her hand onto the puppy's side, pushing her fingers through his long fur. "And _you're_ stealin' my Momma time. Mhm, you are, Mister." 

Nicole slipped her hand under him and pulled him up so his head was on her bicep and he was right next to her face. She hugged him closer and pressed a bunch of kisses to his head. "Him is my baby boy, though." She heard a meow from the end of the bed and rolled her eyes. "You are, too, MoMo." 

Before they knew it, all three animals were between their bodies. Houdini was curled up by Nicole's head, Geronimo was against her stomach, and Waverly was spooning Calamity Jane to her chest. "This is how I want every morning to go," Waverly said through a yawn. 

"Really? You want dog butt in your face every morning?" 

"He already sleeps by my head on my pillow sometimes, I've seen my fair share of dog butt." 

Nicole wiggled his paw with a smile. "'Cause you're _clingy,_ ain't ya?"

Waverly leaned forward, scratching behind his ear as she let him lick her face. "He just loves me." 

"Mhm." Nicole was switching between petting all three of them before she quickly glanced up at Waverly, a huge grin pushing onto her face. "Ok. I said my good mornings to y'all." She lifted each pet one by one and moved them behind her. 

"What?" Waverly asked with a laugh when Nicole scooted over to her and rolled her to her back. 

"I haven't said my good mornings to _everyone_ yet." She scooted down Waverly's body and pushed up her baggy hoodie, smiling softly as she pressed a kiss to her stomach. "Good morning, Haught Pocket," she mumbled softly as she rubbed her thumbs on her sides as she leaned her cheek against her. "D'you sleep ok in there?" 

Waverly giggled as she pushed her hand through her hair, pulling her back up to meet her lips. "You're so adorable."

"I'm not talking to you right now. I'm talking to Haught Pocket." Nicole slid back down to her stomach with a sigh, "I'm sorry, Mommy interrupted our conversation. Where were we again?" 

Waverly shook her head, slowly running her fingers through Nicole’s hair as she continued to talk to her stomach for a few more minutes. She eventually scooted back up her body, smiling down at her in the dark. “You done with your meeting?” Waverly asked with a crooked grin.

Nicole giggled as she pressed a few kisses to her face. “I am for now.”

Waverly pulled her down into a longer kiss, smiling when she felt the comforting weight of her body press down on her when she relaxed on top of her. She hummed against her lips, rolling her thumbs across her cheekbones when she pulled away. "Ya know, I didn't miss your nasty ass morning breath." 

Nicole scoffed as she rolled off her and flicked the lamp on the nightstand on. "At least mine's not as bad as yours." 

"Hey!"

**8:16 AM**

Nicole gently tapped her fist against the bathroom door with a sad brow. "You ok, Honey?" 

The door opened and Waverly trudged out, slipping past her as she walked into the living room. "Someone doesn't like Cinnamon Toast Crunch." 

Nicole let out a sad sigh, following her and leaning over the back of the couch. "You want me to make you something else?" 

Waverly shook her head, sitting down on the couch and pulling her knees to her chest. "I'm still nauseous." 

“I’m sorry, Baby,” Nicole mumbled.

Waverly shrugged a little. “I guess I just need to get used to it.” She reached down and lifted Houdini off the floor, hugging him to her chest as she pressed a kiss to his nose. “Does him wanna go on a walky?” The puppy started wiggling around in her arms, and she let out a giggle as she set him on the floor. “Alright. Mommy needs some air so she doesn’t throw up everywhere again.” Houdini ran around the coffee table a few times, and they both laughed a little. 

“Dini, sit,” Nicole said, holding up her fist and smiling as he did so. She held up her palm with a raise of her brow. _“Stay._ Momma’s gonna go get your harness and stuff.” Houdini jumped up again the second she turned away, and Nicole spun back around. “Uh-uh. Sit.” He did so, letting out a whine. “Stay, Houdini.” She slowly turned back around and began to walk away, grinning wide as she walked down the hall to the laundry room and grabbed his harness and leash.

“Baby, it’s only a little above 40 degrees out. Grab him a jacket, too, please.” 

Nicole let out a heavy sigh, smirking as she grabbed their basket of clothes for the animals and picked out one of his puppy hoodies. She grabbed his harness and rainbow leash, walking out of the laundry room with a big smile. “Him stayed!” Houdini bounced around when she stopped in front of him, and she grabbed a treat out of the jar on the counter, kneeling down in front of him and giving it to him. “Good boy, Bubby.”

“ _That_ hoodie? Really?”

Nicole slipped the black hoodie on the dachshund, smiling as she pulled the hood over his head. “Personally, I think this is the best gift Wynonna’s ever given us.” 

Across the back of the hoodie said _I only love my bed and my mama, I’m sorry._

Of course.

“Not the Victoria’s Secret gift card she got me for my birthday?” Waverly asked with a smirk as she pushed off the couch. 

Nicole looked up at her as she pulled the harness on him, grinning a little. “I mean . . . That led to some pretty good purchases, so maybe that one’s up there on the list, too.”

“Mhm, thought so.” Waverly turned down the hall towards their room. “I’m gonna change.”

“Mk, Baby.” Nicole moved over to the door and grabbed her maroon hoodie off one of the hooks, tugging it on and sitting down on the bench to pull some shoes on. 

“Now _that’s_ a look,” Waverly said when she returned a few minutes later, now in some warmer clothes. 

Nicole looked down at herself, realizing that the black and white plaid pajama pants and blue sneakers didn’t all fit well with the color of the hoodie, but she gave her a goofy grin. “I’m starting a new fashion trend, ok?”

“Is it called _I just rolled out of bed?_ ‘Cause your hair’s really helping out with that.

Nicole threw her a look, dramatically flicking her hood over her head and reaching down to grab Houdini off the floor. “I shall not be bullied in the comfort of my own home.” She spun around on her heel, marching towards the door and heading outside. 

Waverly shook her head with a sigh, grabbing the dog leash off the counter and following them out. “Excuse me, Sheriff. You might need this.”

Nicole looked back at her as she tossed the leash to her, catching it with a purse of her lips. “. . . Maybe.” She set Houdini down and hooked the leash to his harness. “Alright, Dude. Go crazy.” 

Waverly giggled as he immediately ran forward and started sniffing around everywhere, wrapping around Nicole’s arm that was shoved in her hoodie pouch as they turned down the sidewalk in front of the house. “He’s the best decision I ever made.” 

_“Ouch,”_ Nicole mumbled. “Remember when I proposed?” 

Waverly nodded with a sigh, “I do. Like I said. He’s the best decision I’ve ever made.” 

Nicole scoffed, bumping her with her hip. “Rude.” 

She grinned, pressing up on her toes when she leaned back into her and pecking her cheek. “I’m _kidding.”_

“Mhm.” 

They walked on, chatting about little things as they stacked up a couple of blocks worth of distance. It was a little chilly, but not completely unbearable for any of them. 

Nicole let out a tut, looking down at her with a cocked brow. "Ok, we're not moving our storage room out to the Homestead. There ain't nowhere out there for it all either.”

“Ok, so you’d be fine with getting rid of all of your workout equipment?” Waverly asked with a tip of her head. “No more treadmill, no more weight rack, no more bars or plates or that huge ass power rack home gym thing that you _just got-”_

 _“That_ I put together in front of you and then ate you out on ‘cause you got all horny-”

“Not the point,” she huffed. “What would you do if we got rid of it, sold it, whatever? Get a gym membership?” 

Nicole shook her head. “Honestly, I’ve been thinking about building off the house-” 

_“Excuse me?”_

“Like, behind the living room and our room. I’ve always wanted a big ass back porch, so we could do, like, three-quarters back porch, one-quarter new workout room.” 

Waverly blinked at her for a few seconds with an opened mouth. “. . . Are you _nuts?”_

Nicole shrugged. “Think about it, Babe. Instead of having to go upstairs, we could just go in there _right_ from our room. We’d use that same door that’s on the back wall in the living room to go out to the porch. We could put the grill on there, a table, some chairs, maybe a hammock hanging off the roof. I know you want one of those. Plus if I get people to help me, it'd _definitely_ be done by the time Haught Pocket’s here.”

Waverly slowly slipped around her arm again, and Nicole smirked wide, knowing _exactly_ what that meant. “. . . I _do_ want a hammock.” 

“Mhm . . . You’d be able to sit outside in the rain then, too, and not get all wet.”

“. . . You’re very convincing, Mrs. Haught.”

“Does that mean you want a back porch?” Nicole asked. 

“I think it does-” 

_“Fuck yeah-”_

_“But.”_

Nicole’s face fell, and she looked down at her in question. “But?”

“This means I get to design the nursery _all_ by myself and you can’t see it until it’s done.” 

Nicole nodded. “Deal. You can’t see any of it either then until I’m done.” Waverly pursed her lips, and Nicole wiggled her brows. “Mhmmm, how ya like that?” 

“Just . . . don’t fuck it up.” 

“I didn’t plan on it, Darlin’,” Nicole chuckled. 

“How do you even know how to do that anyway? Same with putting the new exterior on the Homestead after we first met.”

“I worked with Romeo’s dad in his home reno company before I even _knew Romeo_ from freshman year ‘til I graduated. That was my first job.” 

Waverly raised her brows at her with a laugh. “You didn’t even know that it was his dad’s?”

Nicole let out a sigh, “No. The day after we . . . _ya know-”_

“After you fucked?”

“Shut up,” she grumbled as she tightened the leash when she saw a huge dog with its owner heading their direction up ahead of them. “He happened to come by the house we were building on to get money from his dad or whatever, and it was . . . _very_ awkward.” 

“I can’t imagine why,” Waverly said with a snort. 

“From that day forward, I was known as _The Homo Renovator.”_

Waverly giggled, squeezing her arm. “I love that for you.” 

Nicole shook her head with a roll of her eyes, tugging on Houdini’s leash when he went to continue forward to get him to turn the corner with them instead. “I hate people with dogs like that,” she grumbled, having seen how much the big tan Mastiff had been pulling at its owner’s leash and barking after it had spotted Houdini. “If your dog wants to eat my puppy, you don’t need to be out walking it around here.” 

“We ain’t gonna let no scary doggy eat you, Dini,” Waverly mumbled, squatting down and smiling as he bounced around in front of her. She adjusted the hood on his head, pursing her lips when he yapped a few times as he jumped up on her leg. “You want me to carry you the rest of the way home?” She let out a sigh as she lifted him up and flipped him over, patting his stomach with a smile as she stood. 

“Spoiled,” Nicole muttered, poking one of his back feet that was sticking up.

The three walked around the block to get back to the house, and Waverly had spent more of the walk getting Nicole to explain the logistics of what _building onto the house_ was. She was pretty much completely on board with it by the time they were home, and Nicole had promised her she wasn’t going to fuck anything up. 

“Dini is tired,” Waverly mumbled softly as she slowly ran her thumb down his face, walking inside and pushing the door shut with her foot when Nicole followed. She walked over and set him down on the couch, pulling his harness and the hoodie off. “D’you have a good walky?” Houdini crawled right onto her lap to lay down, and she let out a sad sigh. “We gotta get ready to go to the doctor, Bud. You can’t nap on me.” She set him on the floor and pushed off the couch. “C’mon. I’ll tuck you in your bed.” The puppy followed her into their room, and she grabbed his dog bed off the floor, setting it up on their bed.

“What’re you doing?” Nicole questioned as she walked in.

Houdini ran up the ramp by the bed and climbed right onto his bed. “I’m tucking him in,” Waverly huffed, doing so after he laid down. 

Nicole shook her head with a laugh, sorting through the closet to find herself something to wear for the day. “Alright then.” 

Waverly set his whale stuffed animal in front of him after making sure he was snug as a bug in a rug, leaning down and pressing a kiss to his head. “Night night.” 

“Ok, how do I need to look for this?” Nicole asked, pulling out two things on hangers. “Like, is this a _flannel_ occasion or a _nice crewneck sweatshirt_ occasion?”

Waverly let out a soft gasp as she ran her fingers down the sleeve of the grey sweatshirt, looking up at her with a hopeful smile. “Can we _match?”_

“You wanna match?” Nicole asked with a chuckle as she put the flannel away. 

“Yeah,” she said with a giggle as she moved in front of her and sorted through the closet for a few seconds, turning around to face her as she pulled out a sweater in the same color as Nicole’s sweatshirt. “See!” She held them up together. “We can match!” Waverly turned back around and dug out a pair of black jeans for both of them, grinning as she handed Nicole her’s and stood up on her toes to press a kiss to the corner of her mouth.

“We’re gonna shower before we leave, right?” 

“Yeah, definitely. You stink.” Waverly giggled as she turned to run away from her towards the bathroom, but Nicole managed to smack her ass before she could. 

_“Meanie.”_

The two climbed into the shower, and Waverly moved under the stream of hot water, letting it warm the chill on her bones that was still there from when they had been outside. She smiled a little when she felt arms snake around her middle, leaning back against Nicole’s chest and looking up at her. “Hi, there,” Nicole mumbled as she pressed a kiss to her cheek. 

Waverly let out a soft hum, giving her hands a squeeze that were wrapped around her. “Hi.” 

Nicole unwrapped her from her arms, sliding her hands down to her hips as she moved around her to stand under the water. She pushed her hands through her hair a few times, and Waverly licked her lips, pulling her eyes away as she grabbed the body wash off the ledge. 

“Baby.” 

Waverly looked up at her when she spoke after a minute, pausing rubbing the soap on and laughing at her. “I always knew you were a unicorn.” 

Nicole grinned wide as she ran her hand up the shampoo unicorn horn she had given herself. “I’m in my true form.” 

Waverly stepped towards her with a giggle, cupping her cheeks and pulling her down into a kiss. “My _own_ personal unicorn.” 

Nicole chuckled against her lips, slipping an arm around her waist and pulling her flush against her front. “I am at your service.” 

Waverly smirked a little, deepening the kiss. “Are you now?” 

“Mhm.” 

“Good to know,” Waverly mumbled, and she grinned when she felt Nicole back her up to the shower wall. Her body tensed at the chill it sent from her head to her toes, but she hooked her hand behind Nicole’s neck and pulled her closer to fix it. 

Nicole planted her hand on the wall by her head, and Waverly let out a moan, gripping her fingers into her wrist when she pressed an opened-mouth kiss against her lips. She slipped her tongue through her lips with the next kiss, and Waverly slid her hand up and over her shoulder, dragging her nails down her shoulder blade. Nicole let out a heavy breath, sliding one of her hands down her front. 

Waverly let out a hiss, grabbing her wrist when she squeezed at her chest. Nicole pulled her hand back as she detached from her lips. "What?" 

"My _boobs_ hurt." 

"Why?" Nicole questioned with a laugh. 

"'Cause I'm _pregnant,"_ she huffed with a smile, moving Nicole's hand to her hip.

"That's not fair," Nicole whined, moving her hands back up to gently cup over them with a pout. "I love your boobs." 

Waverly rolled her eyes with a smile. "And I'm sorry about that, but they _hurt,_ so _stop."_ She grabbed her hands and pulled them back down to her hips. 

Nicole let out a dramatic sigh, leaning back into a kiss. _"Fine."_ She leaned further into her, pressing her thumbs into her hips for a few seconds. "Babe?" 

"Hmm?" Waverly mumbled, sliding her hands down and squeezing at her ass. 

"Are we . . . Are we gonna do the nasty right in front of Haught Pocket?" 

Waverly pulled from her lips with a glare, tipping her head at her. "How the hell d'you expect us to do it if it's not in front of them?"

"I dunno," Nicole mumbled. 

Waverly rolled her eyes again, grabbing her hand and trailing it across her soapy stomach before letting it slide down to where she wanted it. "Quit being weird." 

"What would you prefer I did instead?" she questioned as she pulled her hand back and held it behind her for a second to rinse the soap off of it. 

"Whatever you want, Baby," Waverly sighed, pulling her back into a kiss. 

_"Whatever_ I want?" she questioned as she trailed her fingers down and brushed across her clit. 

Waverly pulled in a slow breath, biting her lip when Nicole's touch was more surefooted. "Whatever you want." 

Nicole hummed against her lips, starting to roll slow circles against her. “Sounds good to me then.” Waverly let out a soft moan into her mouth, tightening her nails into her side. Nicole grabbed her hand and interlocked their fingers as she pressed her it up against the wall. 

Waverly looked up at her when she pulled from her lips and dropped her mouth to her neck, letting out a huff as she pushed her fingers of her free hand through her shampoo horn to lay it flat on her head. “I can’t take you seriously like that.”

“Haven’t you always wanted to be fucked by a unicorn?” Nicole asked with a smirk. 

She shook her head. “Ya know, I can’t say that I have actually.” 

Nicole laughed, nodding as she met her lips. “That’s probably a good thing.” 

“I agree, yeah.”

Nicole chuckled as she slipped two fingers down and pressed them into her. “Well . . . If you don’t wanna ride a unicorn, the least you can do is ride my fingers.” 

Waverly rolled her eyes. “Nicole Haught, that is the weirdest thing you’ve ever said to me mid-fuck.” 

“Honestly, I’d put a bet on saying that it’s probably _not.”_

Waverly shook her head at her, pushing her fingers into her hair and pulling her back into a kiss as she began to rock her hips back and forth. “ _Please_ stop talking.” 

“That’s a good idea, yeah.” 

Nicole began pumping her fingers in and out in time with Waverly’s rocking, and their kisses and movements grew heated as a few minutes passed. Waverly’s tugging and gripping at different parts of Nicole’s body grew rougher, and Nicole let out a low groan, pressing her hips forward against her thigh when she pulled at her hair harder than she had any time before. It, in turn, pressed her fingers even deeper into Waverly and she let out a sharp moan, grabbing her hips and pulling her forward again. 

“Mm, you like that?” Nicole asked as she rutted against her a few times.

Waverly whimpered, leaning her head back against the shower wall. “Yeah, do- don’t- just . . . keep doing that.” 

“This, Darlin’?” Nicole asked as she continued to rock against her each time she pressed into her. 

“Uh-huh,” she breathed out. “Harder.” 

Nicole let out a low laugh, dropping her mouth to her neck as she put more force behind it. “Better?” 

_“Fuck,_ Baby,” she moaned, keeping her head tipped back and eyes closed. 

Nicole pulled back from her neck, grabbing the bottom of her chin and tipping it down so she was looking at her. “What’s better? This or . . . this?” Nicole stopped rocking against her, keeping her fingers gripped into her jaw as she began to quickly pump her fingers into her. Waverly’s mouth opened with a moan, and her fingers dug into her bicep as their eyes stayed locked on one another. She dropped one hand to rub her clit, biting down on her lip roughly. Nicole grinned slyly, glancing down for only a moment before looking back up at her. “I’d take it ya like this, hm?”

Waverly nodded quickly, squeezing her fingers harder into her bicep as her breathing started to come in heavier and her hips started to cant back and forth. _“Shit-_ You’re gonna make me come.” 

“I’m gonna make you come?” Nicole repeated as she pumped her wrist at full speed, gripping her fingers harder into her chin when her head tried to move. 

_“Fuck, Babe.”_

Nicole let out a hum. “Well, you best come hard then.” 

The second the drawled word left Nicole’s lips, Waverly was gone. Nicole pressed her body against her to keep her up on her feet if her legs decided to give out on her, grinning wide when she heard the moans she was trying to silence against her shoulder as her nails most _definitely_ were drawing blood from her arm.

Nicole had slipped her arm around Waverly’s waist, and slowly retracted her fingers from inside her after several more seconds, letting her lean back against the wall. She pressed her middle finger into Waverly’s mouth, smirking a little when she moved her hand up to hold her wrist and lazily cleaned it off. Nicole pulled it back, catching her eyes and pressing her pointer finger into her own mouth. 

Waverly licked her lips, and Nicole leaned into a kiss after she dropped both hands to her hips, smiling when she pulled back. “Can you feel your legs yet?”

“Nope.” 

“Didn’t think so.” 

**11:03 AM**

Waverly glanced up at the clock above the front desk at the OB/GYN’s office, letting out a shaky sigh. She looked towards Nicole when she gave her hand an assuring squeeze, smiling a little when she caught her comforting eyes. “They’re just a little busy, Honey.”

“I know,” she mumbled, having been on high alert for the entire three minutes past her scheduled appointment time. Waverly sat back and pulled her a little closer, dipping under her arm after she moved it to wrap around her. “I’m just nervous.” 

“I know,” Nicole sighed as she pressed a soft kiss to her temple. “We’re just gonna chat with her, though. They might do some tests, but that’s it.” Waverly nodded, recognizing that she was tapping her foot when Nicole pushed her hand against her knee. She let out a raspberry, pulling her foot up and tucking it under her other knee in hopes to stop her nerves from trying to escape through it. “Relax, Baby,” Nicole said gently. 

“Cole, _how_ am I supposed to relax when-” 

“Waverly Haught,” a nurse called when a door came open across the room. 

Waverly looked towards Nicole, and she stood up, holding her hand out with an encouraging smile. “C’mon.” Waverly let out a heavy breath, taking her hand as she got up and following her as she headed towards the nurse. 

“How are we today?” the nurse asked as she walked them down a hall. 

“Good.” “Scared.” 

Nicole looked down at Waverly with a tip of her head. “Re-”

“Tell me to relax _one_ more time, I _dare_ you.” 

Nicole furrowed her brow sadly, dropping her hand and shoving both of her's into the pockets of her jeans. "I'm just tryna help," she mumbled. 

Waverly let out a whine, pulling at her hand to take it back. _"Nooo,_ Baby, I didn't mean it. Don't be sad, I'm sorry." 

Nicole let out a little laugh, giving her hand a squeeze when she re-interlocked their fingers. "M'kay, Love." She gently grabbed her shoulder and pulled her to stand in front of her, dropping her head to her ear. "Now pay attention to the nurse lady." 

Waverly's cheeks went red, and she cleared her throat as she looked up at her. "Hi." 

"Hi, Waverly," she said with a chuckle. “Can I get all your numbers before I send ya off to wait for the doctor?” She nodded, pulling away from Nicole and walking over to the wall she was standing by that had the height reader on it, flicking her shoes off. “Alright, let’s see . . .” The nurse read her height, looking at her with a raise of her brows as she logged it into her tablet. “About 5’3 and a half.” 

“Aw, Sweetie, you grew.” 

“Shut up, no I didn’t,” Waverly grumbled, though she had a small grin on her face as she met her eyes.

“Ooo, measure me,” Nicole said as she yanked Waverly out of the way and moved under the height thing. 

The nurse laughed a little, standing up on her toes so she could see it. “5’11.” 

“What?!-” Waverly looked down at her feet, throwing her a look. “You’re in combat boots, that doesn’t count.” 

Nicole shrugged with a smirk as she moved out of the way. “Still taller than you.” 

“That’s not news, Dude,” Waverly muttered as she moved onto the scale, raising her brows high when the reading popped up.

“110 . . .” The nurse looked down at her tablet with a furrow of her brows. “And you were 113 last time you were here?”

“Yeah,” Waverly mumbled with a swallow as she pulled her shoes back on. 

“How far along are you?” the nurse asked as she leaned her hip against the desk she was standing next to. 

“Just over two weeks,” she answered.

“From conception or your last period?” Waverly raised a brow in question, and she clarified, “Technically we measure it from the last day of your last period, not conception, so you’re more days pregnant than you’ve actually _been_ pregnant.”

“Oh,” Waverly mumbled as she looked up at Nicole, who had moved to stand right beside her. “How long ago was that?” 

“Don’t ask me,” she laughed, nodding towards her pocket. “You’ve got that app, right?” 

Waverly nodded, pulling her phone out and getting on it. “Uh . . . last day was the 22nd of last month, I think.” 

The nurse typed something into the computer next to her. “So technically you're four weeks and one day pregnant.” 

Nicole looked down at her with a grin and a wiggle of her brows. “Well, ain’t that fun?” 

Waverly nodded with a little smile, leaning into her some. “So . . . I’m four of 40 weeks then? Like, that’s what it means?” 

“Yup, exactly. Your baby’s about the size of a poppy seed right now, and you are . . .” She typed something into the computer. "Due May 22nd of next year."

"Oh my God, Haught Pocket's a Gemini," Waverly mumbled with wide eyes. 

Nicole laughed a little as she wrapped her arm around her. “Haught Pocket’s giving you a lot of shit, even bein’ that tiny.” 

The nurse walked back over and pointed to a chair, so Waverly sat down in it. “What’s been going on?” 

“That’s kinda why we’re here already, really,” she answered as she strapped a blood pressure band around her arm. “I’ve been having morning sickness already- well, _all day_ sickness, really. I’ve only kept down one food over the past two days, so . . . yeah.” 

The nurse raised her brows at her, jotting something down when she took her blood pressure. "And what was it that you did keep down?" 

"It was, like, a handful of french fries at lunch yesterday," she mumbled with a shrug. "I was still super nauseous after, though." 

"That's all that you've eaten over the past two days? No snacks or anything?" 

"You ate some crackers or whatever last night," Nicole mumbled. 

"Only like two, but yeah. That's it really. I'm literally _always_ nauseous, even just drinking _water."_

The nurse nodded, walking out of the small room and leading them down the hall with different rooms on either side. “Alright . . . I’ll let Dr. Molina know about all that, and she’ll see if we can do anything to help out with that.” She opened an exam room, allowing them both in.

“Alright, thank you,” Nicole said with a smile. 

“No problem. She should be in soon.” 

They both thanked her again, and she turned out the door, leaving them alone in the room. Waverly watched the door, waiting until it clicked shut to grab onto Nicole’s hands. “Baby, did you see the look on her face?”

Nicole gave her a comforting smile, squeezing her hands. “Hey-”

“Something’s _wrong_ with me, Nic.” 

“Just . . . sit down, ok? We’ll figure it all out.” Nicole pulled her over to the table, lifting her by the hips to set her up on it. She moved to stand in between her knees, taking her hands again. “Now do you wanna tell me why I didn’t know you didn’t keep down dinner last night? Or- Or why you can’t even _drink?_ ” 

Waverly pursed her lips, looking away from her. “. . . ‘Cause I didn’t want you all worried.”

“Yeah, well, you’ve lost three pounds, and I _know_ it’s not just because it’s been a little over a month since you were last here.”

“I know,” she mumbled. 

“Has it just been these two days that you’ve been all sick and stuff?” 

Waverly shrugged a little. “I’ve been kinda nauseous all week, but yesterday was the first day it was really bad. Before I- ya know, threw up my insides for the first time and decided to take the test, I just thought that it was just me either being freaked out or that I was just PMSing.” 

Nicole let go of her hands, letting them rest on the tops of her thighs. “Baby.” She waited until she was looking her right in the eyes. “You _cannot_ hide stuff from me. Ok?” Waverly bit her lip to keep it from wobbling, but that didn’t stop the tear from slipping out of her eye. Nicole wiped it, sliding her hands up and down her arms. “I can’t help you if I don't know what’s going on, and I can’t read your mind, so you’ve just gotta tell me, alright? I . . . I might not always be able to fix it, but at least I’ll know what’s going on.”

Waverly nodded with a sniffle, wrapping her arms around her neck and pressing her face into her shoulder. Nicole hugged her arms around her middle, rocking her a little bit for a minute as she calmed down. 

Waverly lifted her head again, letting out a slightly steady breath as she wiped her fingers under her eyes. “I just don’t want you to be worried all the time,” she mumbled. 

“I’d be more worried if I didn’t know something, Wave.”

Waverly nodded slowly, feeling some nerves disappear when Nicole pressed a couple of kisses to her cheek. She hopped up on the table next to her, scooting back to lean back against the wall behind them. Waverly moved back, curling into her side and holding her hand in her lap as she leaned her head on her shoulder.

A few minutes passed before they heard the knock on the door. Waverly sat up off of Nicole but kept their fingers interlocked as the short, dark-haired doctor walked into the room. “Sorry about the wait, we were having some issues with our systems.”

Waverly gave her a little smile with a shake of her head. “It’s no problem.” 

The doctor gave them a smile, flicking her eyes towards Nicole. “Nice to finally meet you, Sheriff.”

Nicole smiled as she gave Waverly’s hand a squeeze before letting go of it and climbing off the table, shaking her hand. “You, too, Dr. Molina.”

“Where are you going?” Waverly huffed.

“I’m gonna sit over here,” Nicole answered with a raised brow as she nodded towards the chairs by the other wall. 

“You can stay up there if you want, I don’t care,” Dr. Molina said with a shrug as she sat down on her doctor’s stool and rolled over towards them with her wheeled desk.

“You sure?” Nicole questioned.

She nodded with a smile, looking down at her laptop for a few seconds as she scrolled around a bit. Nicole hopped back up next to Waverly, and she took her hand again, rolling her ring around with her thumb when she pulled her hand into her lap. “Alright . . . So first time’s the charm, aye?”

Waverly nodded with a breathy laugh. “I guess so, yeah.” 

“Well, congratulations to the both of you, first of all,” the doctor said with a smile.

“Thank you,” they both mumbled, and Nicole gave Waverly’s hand a squeeze. 

“Waverly was over the moon at the idea when I met with her last to do the pre-OB tests and stuff, so I’m really happy it all worked out for you guys first try . . . Considering what April told me before I came in here, there’s no doubt in my mind that you _are_ pregnant, but we still do routine urine and blood samples either way.” Dr. Molina handed her a cup. “So. You’re gonna go deal with that real quick. Take this with you to the front desk and they’ll explain the rest to you.”

“Alrighty.” Waverly hopped off the table. 

Nicole gave her a grin as she turned out of the room. “Have fun peeing in a cup.”

_“Shut up.”_

Nicole looked towards the doctor once she pulled the door closed, laughing as she leaned back against the wall. The doctor rolled towards the table with a shake of her head, leaning her elbow on it as she raised her brows at her. “So . . . How’s she doing so far?” 

“I mean, besides not being able to eat or drink, she seems ok. Her head’s all over the place most of the time, but . . . there’s nothing new there really.” 

Dr. Molina chuckled with a nod. “I can understand that.”

“So do you know what’s going on with her already or . . . ?”

“Well . . . I think I have an _idea_ of what’s going on. They’re gonna do some tests on her bloodwork to see if I’m in the right ballpark with it, though.” 

Nicole nodded, relaxing a little bit with that. “Is there something you’ll be able to do about it if it _is_ what you think it is?” 

“Hopefully, yeah. The only thing I’m concerned about is how _early_ it’s come along. This usually doesn’t come up until around six or seven weeks, but it’s not _unheard_ of coming earlier.” 

“So she’s just one of the unlucky ones, huh?” Nicole asked with a frown. 

“Seems so,” Dr. Molina answered. “It’s good that she’s already made the connection that it isn’t just _normal_ morning sickness, though.”

Nicole nodded, smiling a little. “She’s pretty in tune with everything that’s going on with her, so I’m not shocked there.” 

They chatted for a bit more, going into some changes that Waverly wouldn’t have noticed about herself but Nicole would. It didn’t take too long for Waverly to return after having gotten her blood drawn, and she climbed back up on the table next to Nicole. She looked towards her, raising her brows with a small smirk. “. . . So did you have fun peeing in a cup?”

Waverly smacked her arm with a roll of her eyes. “Stop.” 

**3:11 PM**

The wait at the doctor for Waverly’s blood work to come back was unsettling, to say the least. Waverly got all of her other tests done and out of the way pretty quickly after she had returned to the room, so now they were back out in the waiting room. 

“Is it hot in here?” Waverly asked as she sat up from leaning against Nicole, pulling her sleeves up with a shaky breath. 

“No, Baby, you’re just freaking out.” Nicole tipped her head towards her, sliding her hand up to cup her cheek. _“Breathe.”_

Waverly shook her head, flicking her eyes away from her face. "I don't feel good." 

Nicole didn't really know how it happened, but all she knew was that _now_ she was in the single-room bathroom that was attached to the waiting room and Waverly was puking her guts into the toilet. 

"I'm sorry, Love," Nicole mumbled as she dropped to a knee beside her and gently ran her hand up and down her back. 

Waverly sat back, looking up at Nicole with fear in her eyes. “I haven’t even _drank water_ since last time. What the _fuck?”_

Nicole shook her head with a swallow. “I . . . I don’t know. I don’t know what it is.” Waverly shook her head, letting her head drop forward with exhaustion. Nicole pulled a pack of peppermint gum out of her pocket, pulling a stick of it out and tipping Waverly’s head towards her. “Look at me.” She handed her the gum and Waverly met her eyes as she popped it into her mouth. “If they don’t give us a clear cut answer here, we’re going to the ER and we’re gonna stay there until they do. Alright?”

She slowly nodded in agreement, taking Nicole’s hands when she stood and held them out to her to pull her up to her feet. Nicole moved her hands to her hips to make sure she was steady, only letting go of her when she gave her a nod. “I just . . . I need some air.” 

They made their way out of the bathroom and Nicole let the front desk know that they were going to be stepping outside for a bit. They walked out the front doors, and Waverly continued forward a few steps, leaning against the handrail of the ramp that led down to the parking lot. Nicole gripped her fingers around the bar, leaning back against the one across from her and watching her sadly as she pulled her sleeves over her hands and hugged her arms around herself as she looked down at her feet. 

The scent and taste of the peppermint in Waverly’s mouth was dulling the everlasting nausea pit in her stomach some. It almost brought tears to her eyes when she realized that when Nicole had gone inside to pay for the gas they had stopped for on the way there, she had also picked up a pack of that gum.

She could have gotten any gum- and she knew Nicole _always_ got spearmint gum- but _because_ she had gotten peppermint gum, Waverly knew it meant that she had been looking into things that helped with nausea.

And there was nothing that warmed her heart more than the little things Nicole did to try and help her. 

Her eyes drifted towards Nicole again after a minute of calming both her mind and body down, and she frowned when she saw the sad look on her face that she tried to mask when she met her eyes. Waverly pushed off the railing and walked over, slipping her arms around her middle. Nicole swallowed, hugging one arm around her shoulders and pressing her other hand against the back of her head as she leaned back against the railing. 

"I love you." 

Nicole loosened her grip on her, looking down at her with a soft smile. "I love you, too." She pressed a kiss against her forehead, rubbing her thumb on her cheek. ". . . We've got this, yeah?" 

Waverly nodded, and Nicole saw a _real_ smile press onto her face. "Everything'll be worth it." 

Nicole nodded in agreement, giving her shoulders a squeeze. "Anything and everything." 

The door of the doctor's office came open, and they looked towards the nurse that they had met with when they had first been called in. "Dr. Molina's got your blood work results." 

Waverly and Nicole looked towards one another for a moment before moving to follow her inside. She led them to Dr. Molina's office, it seemed, and they sat down in front of her desk, hearing the door click shut behind the nurse when she left. Nicole ran her thumb over Waverly's knuckles, catching her eyes and giving her a comforting smile to ease some of the anxiety that had returned. 

The door opened after a minute, and Dr. Molina returned with a couple of files and her laptop in tow. "Alright," she sighed as she sat down at her desk and set everything down. "Sorry, it took a bit." 

"It's ok," Nicole mumbled, scooting her chair a bit closer. 

Dr. Molina clasped her hands on top of her desk, flicking her eyes between them. "So I've got some good news and I've got some bad news . . . The good news is that I was right with what I thought was going on, so we won't need to do all kinds of tests on you. Also that we've caught it early. That's also good news."

"And the bad news?" Waverly asked slowly. 

"So bad news. What I suspected is . . . not good." She opened up a file and her laptop. Waverly looked nervously towards Nicole, and she gave her hand another squeeze. "As you know, around 80-90% of women go through some kind of morning sickness with pregnancy, which is completely normal. There are some mild cases and there are some severe cases, but Waverly . . . What you have is severe enough to the point where it's not even _referred_ to as morning sickness." 

"Considering my latest bathroom fiasco, I've gathered that much," she mumbled. The doctor raised a questioning brow, and she sighed as she explained it. 

Dr. Molina slowly nodded as she finished, leaning back in her chair. "I wish I could tell you I'm shocked, but I'm not . . . You've got a condition called Hyperemesis Gravidarum, HG for short."

Nicole raised a brow high. "What's that?" 

"There's not a whole lot of research behind it, so no one really knows what causes it. Some think it's neurological. Some think it relates to some risk factors, many of which you have. This being your first pregnancy, body size, your age, things like that. But it all breaks down as being the two big, fancy words for the _shittiest_ form of prenatal nausea and vomiting a woman can have." 

They both blinked at her for a few seconds. Waverly was the first to show a reaction, slowly moving her hand to press through her hair as she leaned her head on her fist. ". . . _Perfect."_

Dr. Molina let out a sad sigh. "Pretty much, your body is simply not handling the new influx of hormones storming through it very well. We saw that in the blood work. Your hCG levels are _pretty_ high for only being four weeks, which isn't a _bad_ thing, but your body's trying to fend off anything new entering it, and-"

"And anything I consume is new things entering my body," Waverly finished for her. 

"Exactly." 

". . . So what's this gonna lead to?" Nicole questioned as she sat forward a bit in her chair, letting go of Waverly's hand as she rested both of her elbows on her knees.

Dr. Molina flicked her eyes back to Waverly. _"Best_ case scenario, the anti-nausea medication we're prescribing you with will allow you to function as a _slightly_ normal human being until it goes away for the most part at about 16 weeks. You're still going to lose more weight than you're gaining and you're still gonna feel sick pretty much all the time, but you'll still be able to function." 

"And worst-case scenario?" Nicole asked. 

Dr. Molina locked and unlocked her jaw. ". . . It's _rare,_ but the worst-case scenario would be it coming down to termination of the pregnancy so this condition isn't fatal for both of you." They both stared at her wide eyes, so she quickly continued. "Now that's usually with women who have allergies to the medications we give them so they can't take them or women with other underlying complications that make them already worse off to start with, neither of which you are dealing with. I'm not saying that there _aren't_ women who just have it bad enough where it gets that point, but I _am_ saying that it's _rare_ for it to come to that point. And as your doctor, I'll do everything in my power to make sure it _doesn't_ get to that point." 

They both slowly nodded, looking towards one another. Nicole sat up a bit, taking Waverly's hand and pressing a kiss to her knuckles as she looked back towards the doctor. "What's the game plan as of now?" 

Dr. Molina pulled some papers out of her file and handed them to Waverly. "The first page is a pretty baseline eating schedule that I printed out that's said to have helped women with HG keep some things down." Nicole leaned over and skimmed over it, and Waverly met her eyes as she nodded a little, concluding that it didn't look like it would be too difficult. "The next page is some dietary guidance." 

Waverly quickly met Nicole's eyes, and she gave her a sad smile, giving her knee a squeeze when she knew exactly what she was thinking. Waverly looked up at Dr. Molina. "So . . . I've been vegan for the past three years, give or take. How's . . . _that_ gonna play into this?"

Dr. Molina raised her brows at her. "By choice, I'd take it?" Waverly nodded. "Alright . . . so this probably _isn't_ what you want to hear, but I'm being realistic here . . . From what I can tell right now, you're gonna need to start getting lesson plans for school written out and be ready to call off for a month or so because I _don't_ see this going smoothly unfortunately. Your hCG levels are already high, you're already pretty dehydrated, and you're on your way to having really low blood sugar. It's probably going to get worse even _with_ the medicine, and you're pretty much going to be bed-ridden until your second trimester. This that's the most common path most women with HG are forced down, though. It sounds scary and it _will_ be scary, but you've just gotta keep your eyes on the prize." 

"The prize is Haught Pocket," Nicole mumbled.

"Exactly. In the end, you've got a perfectly healthy baby." Dr. Molina tapped her desk with a shake of her head. "Veganism, I'm getting there. Full circle here- Alright, so. With this medicine, it's basically going to be throwing darts at a dartboard in the dark. Sometimes you won't get anything to stick all day and won't be able to keep _anything_ down. Sometimes you'll hit the very edge and be able to down a few sips of water. Sometimes you'll hit the outer ring and manage some crackers or maybe even a bit of a pregnancy smoothie. Closer to the middle would be being able to tolerate a bowl of soup . . . And sometimes your bullseye will be being able to eat an entire turkey club 6-inch from Subway and a Gatorade. All of these foods are going to be led by your cravings, and no matter _how much_ your mind is set on being vegan, you're still going to _only_ want that turkey club because your body knows it's got what it needs." 

Waverly slowly nodded. ". . . Ok, well, I'm not gonna jeopardize the baby or I's health just 'cause I wanna save the animals. Let me just throw that out there. Sure, if there's a situation where I can lean one way or the other without it mattering, I'll obviously go the vegan or even vegetarian route, but . . . I'll be able to handle it still if I wake up wanting a Big Mac." 

Nicole let out a heavy sigh, looking towards her wife. ". . . If I go vegan until you can fully again, will that make you feel better?" 

Waverly's heart eyes flashed and she pouted her lip at her. "You don't have to do that." 

"But I want to. You'll feel better about having to eat piggies and cowies if you know I'm not." 

Waverly leaned towards her and cupped her jaw as she pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth. "I love you." 

"I love you, too." She pulled back from her, huffing with a little laugh as she slid her hand down her arm. "Don't cry."

Waverly pushed her fingers under her eyes with a groan, shaking her head around with a breath. "Ok. I'm good." 

Nicole shook her head with another chuckle, looking back towards the doctor. "Anyways." She grabbed the papers off Waverly's lap and thumbed through them. "Back to this." 

"Right," Dr. Molina continued with a nod. "The next couple of pages have some resources for you two. There's some website links and different book titles on there if either of you want to look into HG more. I also sent those few sheets to your email as a PDF, so you can just click the links to get from place to place. And . . . the last few pages are just the lab results and the paper for the prescriptions." 

Nicole looked at the last sheet of paper. "Which is . . . a few different things?" Waverly looked over at the four different kinds of medicines she was being prescribed. 

"Yes. The top one is the anti-nausea medication I was talking about earlier, and the others are just some vitamin and other mineral and nutrient supplements that we saw you were lacking in right now." 

"Gotcha," Waverly mumbled. 

Dr. Molina let them look over everything for a few moments before speaking again. ". . . I really am sorry that you're already set to head down a really bumpy road. HG is . . . not a great experience at all. The only reason I know what I know to the extent that I know it is because my sister had it with her son a few years back. I know what medicines worked for her and what didn't, and, sure, every person is different, but there are a lot of OBs that don't have the experience with it enough to really have a list of what things a woman needs to try. I . . . I'm _hopeful_ that you're not gonna get to a point of no return with this. I really am. So I don't want you to think this is the end, even though this _will_ send you to hell and back. I'm not trying to scare you either, I'm just being honest and realistic. I want you both to know that this isn't going to be a pretty next couple of months that way you're _prepared_ for that. I would hate to sugar coat it and leave you both lost when you're going through bad days. And on those bad days, do not _hesitate_ to call the office and get them to connect you right to me if you have any questions or concerns. I'll _always_ be here to help you through things." 

They both nodded, and Waverly gave her a grateful smile. “Thank you. Really.” 

Dr. Molina pushed out of her chair, and they both did the same, slowly following her over to the door. “I just want the best for you and your baby, and that just means I’m not going to leave you in the dark when I can see the real reality of this.”

“And we appreciate that,” Nicole said with a small smile as she gently pressed her hand against Waverly’s back as they walked out the door. “I’d rather it straight than for things to be avoided.”

“Yeah, me, too,” Waverly agreed. “I guess we’ll just have to see what happens.” 

“That’s about all you can do,” Dr. Molina sighed. “I’d get yourself prepared now, though . . . for if things go downhill a bit.” 

Waverly slowly nodded, swallowing a bit as she glanced up at Nicole. “We will.” 

The doctor gave them one last smile. “Alright, well, I’ve scheduled you back here for two weeks from today. October 2nd at 10 AM. Let’s hope I won’t have to see you again before that, but if things get to a point where you feel that you need to make sure everything’s ok just call and ask for them to squeeze you in earlier. If not, though, that appointment will be the day we do the first ultrasound.” 

Nicole looked down at Waverly with a grin. “We get to meet Haught Pocket.”

Waverly smiled a little, leaning into her side. “That’ll be fun.”

Dr. Molina tapped her fingers on the doorframe of the door to get to the front desk. “Like I said, call the office if you have any questions about anything. That’s all I’ve got for you today, though.”

“Ok, thank you again,” Waverly said with a small smile, and Nicole reached around from the other side of her to shake her hand. 

“You are both very welcome.” 

They turned down the hallway and headed outside, climbing into the jeep. There was a long silence besides the low hum of the engine running, and Nicole was the first to make any movements. She moved her hand over rest on Waverly’s thigh, leaning her head back against the headrest as she looked towards her. Waverly met her sad eyes with a matching pair, mustering up a tiny smile despite how she swallowed the tightness in her throat at the same time. 

“We’ve got this,” Nicole mumbled. “Right?” Waverly nodded, but Nicole’s brow furrowed the second she saw the tear slide her cheek. “Baby . . .” She shook her head, and Nicole sighed sadly, reaching down and pressing the button on her seatbelt, pushing it off of her. “C’mere.” 

Waverly pushed up out of the passenger’s seat and climbed over the console, sliding onto her lap with her knees on either side of her hips. Nicole hugged her arms around her middle tightly, and Waverly pressed her face into her shoulder with a choked sob, gripping her fingers tightly into her sweatshirt. “I’m so scared, Cole.” 

“I know,” Nicole mumbled, letting out a wobbly breath into her sweater and wiping her face. “I am, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :(
> 
> (if you follow me on twitter, you might understand why I had the gum poll now)  
> ((follow me on twitter, @BiggerTinySword))


	8. Is This What They Call Romance?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waverly learns the full effects of her condition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayo, what's poppin  
> Idk how I'm managing all of these long ass chapters, but this one is 9k, so you're welcome for that  
> Anyway this is a sad chap ha who's surprised?  
> All the puke talk, per usual. I've been keeping it not gross, though, because eW  
> I feel like my dialogue in this one is kinda cheesy and weird, so sorry about that. Also, I realize I don't know how to write a certain character that comes in at the end, so if her character is off, that's why.   
> TW: tiny mention of Waves' flashbacks? 
> 
> Hope ya enjoy and find some light within this one despite the circumstances :)

**Thursday, September 25th, 2020 1:47 PM**

The last thing Wynonna expected to come out of her day was to be looking down the barrel of Nicole Haught’s Glock, but there she was, standing beside her Tahoe with her hands up and staring down it as Nicole pointed it at her from behind the glass window separating them.

Then again, maybe she shouldn’t have beat so damn hard on the window when she passed her car parked on the side of the road and decided to stop and bother her, only to realize that instead of  _ radaring,  _ she was  _ sleeping.  _

Nicole dropped it back to her lap with a huff when the fog of sleep cleared and she realized who it was. She moved the radar gun off her lap, setting it in the seat next to her and pushing the car door open. “Move,” she grumbled, waiting until she did so to open it all the way so she could actually get out. She shoved the gun back in its holster, looking up at her as she crossed her arms and leaned back against the back door. “What the hell d’you want?”

“What the hell are you doing sleeping on the job?” she countered with a tip of her head. 

Nicole locked her jaw for a moment, fixing her glare on her face. “Because I have slept less than  _ 10 hours _ over the past few days and I am  _ exhausted.”  _

Wynonna furrowed her brows. “Why?” 

She shook her head, looking away from her. “It’s nothing.” 

Wynonna smacked her arm. “Haught. What’s going on?” 

“It’s nothing!” she repeated louder. “Don’t worry about it!” 

“Ok, you both have been  _ so  _ weird lately,” Wynona huffed. “I went and bothered Waves before school after I dropped Alice off yesterday, and she looked like she wanted to murder  _ everything and everyone.”  _

"Yeah, she probably did honestly," Nicole huffed. "And I almost murdered you, like, 20 seconds ago, so I guess it's mutual." 

Wynonna had a look on her face that Nicole didn't see often, and it was concern. She walked towards her a bit, pushing the car door closed and leaning her hip against it. ". . . You know you can talk to me, right?" 

Nicole rolled her eyes. "Don't go all fuckin' soft on me, Earp.  _ God."  _

"Hey." Wynonna punched her in the chest. "I'm trying to help you, you _nutsack._ Take it or leave it." 

Nicole looked towards her with another glare. "I didn't ask for your help. We're fine." 

Wynonna pushed off the Tahoe, throwing her arms out as she turned away from her and started walking towards her truck. "Ok, fine then. Jeez, remind me not to give a damn next time." 

A pang of regret socked Nicole in the chest harder than Wynonna had herself as she watched her go, and Wynonna turned her head back to glance at her when she went to round the front of her truck, seeing the sadness all over her face. She shifted back towards her and crossed her arms, slowly walking forward. ". . .You don't look too  _ fine _ to me, Haught Sauce." 

Nicole looked up at her with tears in her eyes and a shake of her head. "'Cause I'm not fine." 

Wynonna's brow saddened with how her voice broke with the last word, so she stepped forward and grabbed her arms, pulling her into a hug. Nicole took a moment, but she eventually wrapped her arms around her middle and gripped her fingers into the back of her leather jacket. The floodgates broke open, and all the stress and pain of the last few days came out with it. 

Wynonna's eyes were wide in surprise, not having expected a full-on breakdown in her arms when she had pulled her into a hug. She slowly pushed her fingers through her hair, relaxing her body a bit as she decided to wait for her to calm down some to get some more out of her. 

Nicole pulled in a shaky breath as she lifted her head, and Wynonna met her eyes with worry. “You  _ gotta  _ talk to me, Dude.” 

Nicole pulled her sleeves down, wiping her face off and shaking her head. “Do you . . . D’you know how much it fucking  _ hurts  _ to see someone you love in pain and not be able to- to fix it no matter  _ how hard _ you try?”

“Yeah, I’m kinda feelin’ that right now,” Wynonna mumbled with a furrowed brow. “What’s wrong with Waves?” 

Nicole shook her head, stepping back from her and leaning back against the Tahoe. “She’s just sick.”

“Why’s she working if she’s sick?” Wynonna huffed. “Does she wanna infect the whole school?”

Nicole slowly shook her head and kicked a rock into the grass by the road with her boot. “It’s not contagious or anything.” 

Wynonna crossed her arms with a tip of her head. “Then what is it?”

“Don’t you think she woulda told you already if she wanted you to know?”

Wynonna’s face fell a little. “Why doesn’t she want me to know?” she asked softly.

Nicole shook her head, wiping her face again. “Wy, it’s nothing against you. She hasn’t told anyone, and I don’t think she’s planning on it either.”

“I’m her  _ sister,”  _ she huffed. “Why the fuck doesn’t she want me to know?”

“Because she doesn’t,” Nicole argued. “And you’re just gonna have to accept that.”

“But-”

“I’m not telling you, so don’t even start. It’s her business, not mine, and unless you want a _very_ moody Waverly to rip your spine out, I wouldn’t even bring it up.”

Wynonna shook her head, running her tongue across the inside of her teeth. “This is bullshit.” 

“Yeah, well, it’s our bullshit,” Nicole sighed, turning and pulling her car door open. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Whatever,” she grumbled, turning away from Nicole as she climbed into the Tahoe.

Nicole let out a raspberry, slamming her door and running her hands up and down her face. She buckled up and started the car, pulling off the shoulder back onto the road.

She had to go explain to Waverly why she was going to be bombarded with questions before Wynonna beat her to it. 

**2:14 PM**

“Mrs. Haught?” a kid whined. 

“What, Miles?” she sighed, lifting her head from leaning against her fist. 

“I don’t have a pencil.” 

She blinked at him for a few seconds. “. . . You realize there is  _ one  _ minute of class left, right?”

“Yeah,” he answered slowly. 

“So you haven’t had a pencil all class?” she asked with a raise of her brow. 

“No,” he mumbled.

“So, like, over the past 15 minutes that I’ve given you to do your homework, what have you been doing? Just sitting there?” He just stared at her, knowing that she already knew the answer to that question. Waverly crossed her arms in front of her chest. “You know almost everyone got it done, right? Like, you’re the only one that’s gotta do homework tonight in this class- Not like you ever do it anyway, but still.” 

His mouth came open a little, and she ignored the couple of snorts that came from all sides of the room. “I do it  _ most  _ of the time.” 

Waverly looked back down at the papers she was trying to focus on grading to tune out the ache of nausea she had been stuck in for the past week.  _ “Most of the time  _ is being awfully generous, Bud.” 

“Can I just have a pencil?” he asked in another whine. 

“Nope.” 

“Please? I need one for my study hall.”

“That sounds like a you problem,” she sighed, leaning back in her chair and shooting him a glare as the bell rang. “Come to my class prepared or I’ll use one of  _ my  _ pencils to put your name on a detention slip.” She flicked her eyes away from the pissed off snob on his face and directed her attention to the rest of the class. “See you guys tomorrow.” 

The class filed out of the room, and she got up with a heavy breath and shut the door behind them before slowly walking to the side of the room at the part of the wall that wasn’t visible from the window on the door at any angle. She crossed her arms and pressed them against the wall, leaning her forehead against them as she let out a slow breath. 

This had pretty much been her routine now every period. She tried to gather as much of the energy she had left in her to teach her class before relaxing towards the end and letting them go off on their own to work on whatever it was they had to work on, whether that be doing homework or watching a video that she put on for them. After they all left, she took the couple of minutes of peace to try and  _ not  _ projectile vomit everywhere, which worked about 75% of the time. 

The other 25% she was making a mad dash to the teacher’s restroom that was thankfully only a couple of doors from her room.

At this point, she had only had to leave  _ during  _ class twice to go and get her shit together, and she was hoping and praying that she didn’t have many more occurrences like that.

Waverly jumped with a gasp and spun around to push at the hands on her hips, letting out a shaky breath of relief when she saw Nicole’s wide and apologetic eyes.  "It's just me, Wave," Nicole whispered, backing up a step. "Just me."

“Jeez,” she muttered, reaching out for her as she tipped her head back against the wall. 

“I'm so sorry,” Nicole said gently as she stepped back towards her. “I thought you heard me come in.” 

“No,” Waverly sighed with a slow, shaky breath. 

Nicole's brows furrowed sadly, taking her hands and rubbing her thumbs over them. “I’m sorry. You're not having flashbacks, ar-”

Waverly shook her head, looking up into her worried eyes when she opened her's again. “I’m fine, Babe.” 

“Ok,” she mumbled. “. . . How’re you doing?”

“How do I look like I’m doing?” 

“Not too hot, Love. I’m gonna be honest with you.”

She let out a breathy sigh. “I probably feel worse than I look, so that’s good.” 

Nicole pursed her lips, swallowing as she gave her hands a tug and pulled her off the wall to wrap her in a hug. “Will a huggy make you feel better?”

Wavery relaxed into her chest, pressing her face into her uniform shirt. “Huggies always make me feel better,” she mumbled. 

Nicole gently ran her hand up and down her back, breathing a little bit of relief with that. “Then you can have all the huggies you want.” 

Waverly pulled back from her with a soft smile, cupping her cheek to pull her down into a soft kiss. “Thank you.”

Nicole smiled a little, letting her hands fall back to her waist and making sure she was alright with it. “You’re welcome.” 

She smoothed her hands down Nicole’s chest and let out a breath. “We need to get unscented laundry stuff, though, ‘cause I don’t want the smell of you making me nauseous anymore.”

“It’s  _ that  _ strong?” Nicole questioned, pulling her shirt up to smell it and furrowing her brow a little when only a tiny bit of the flowery softener scent filled her nose. 

“Yeah, that and your body spray stuff,” she mumbled. “They said my sense of smell is heightened now, so.”

Nicole dropped her hands from her hips, taking a step back from her. “I’ll pick up some when I get off work, ok?” Waverly nodded, but Nicole could tell there was something she wanted to say. “What else do you need, Honey?”

Waverly looked away from her, leaning back against the wall and running her hands up and down her face. “Can you just, like . . . get everything unscented?”

Nicole raised a brow. “Like what?”

“Like . . . shampoo, body wash, face wash, make up wipes, lotion, deodorant, all that stuff. The smell of  _ myself  _ makes me wanna puke all over everything.” 

Nicole nodded, pulling her phone out and typing it all down on a notes page. “Ok . . . anything else?” Waverly shook her head, so Nicole pushed her phone back into her pocket. “Just text me later if you think of anything.”

“Ok,” Waverly mumbled, stepping back towards her and taking her face in her hands. “Now why’re you here?”

“I wanted to check on you,” she answered with a little smile on her lips. “Is that alright with you?”

Waverly raised her brows at her, rubbing her thumbs on her cheeks. “Sure, that is, but your puffy eyes aren’t.” She tipped her head when Nicole’s jaw locked right up. “What’s that all about, hm?”

“Damn, you’re good,” Nicole muttered. 

“I know I am. Now talk.” 

“Well, I almost shot your sister-”

_ “Excuse me?”  _

“-because I fell asleep radaring cars, and she banged on my window and scared me.”

“Nic,” Waverly huffed sadly. “Why?”

“‘Cause I’ve been up making sure you’re alright most of the night, I guess. I dunno.”

It’s not like Nicole  _ couldn’t  _ be sleeping. Hell, Waverly was sleeping more now than she was  _ before  _ she was pregnant. Nicole was just always so worried about her that she would stay up to keep an eye on her. She assumed the fear had stemmed from four nights ago when she had . . . well . . . 

**Sunday, September 21st, 2020 2:09 AM**

Nicole's eyes opened halfway in the dark room, and she sucked in a long, deep breath as she flipped over, letting out a hum as she closed her eyes all the way again after reaching out for Waverly. 

Who was not there. 

Nicole opened her eyes again, squinting at the spot next to her and concluding that she was not there nor had she been there for a while considering the coolness of the sheet. She furrowed her brows and sat up a little, grabbing her phone and seeing that it was just past two in the morning. She flicked her flashlight on and darted it around the room for a few seconds before letting out a sigh as she rolled over and climbed off the bed. 

Waverly was either, one, hunched over the toilet, two, sleeping on the couch, or three, God knows where doing what. 

Nicole trudged in her half-sleep over to the bedroom door, yawning and rubbing her eyes as she pulled it open. 

She stopped, though, furrowing her brows at the sound of crying coming from the kitchen. She made her way down the hall and looked around the corner, raising her brows high at the sight. 

"Baby, what're you  _ doin'?"  _

There Waverly was, sitting on the floor of the kitchen with her back against the cabinets, crying as she slowly shoved crunchy Cheetos into her mouth. 

"Eating Cheetos." 

"I see that, yeah," Nicole mumbled as she rubbed her eye again. "Why're you crying, though-  _ oh." _

It took a moment, but Nicole put it together. 

Waverly was vegan. 

Cheetos were not vegan. 

Waverly hadn’t broken her vegan diet yet considering she had only been able to keep down a few things over the past few days even  _ with  _ the new medicine she was on.

Because, quite frankly, the meds weren’t doing  _ shit. _

She choked back a sob, wiping her face with the back of her hoodie sleeve. "They woke me up 'cause they wanted Cheetos, so I said  _ no, Haught Pocket, Mommy can't have Cheetos 'cause Mommy's vegan, _ but they still wanted Cheetos. I told them no again and- and decided to just eat the Fritos we have since they're, like, almost like Cheetos, but they're vegan. Baby wasn't happy, so Baby made me throw up the Fritos, and . . . and here I am."

Nicole let out a heavy sigh, walking over and sitting down on the floor next to her. “I’m sorry, Baby.”

“I wanted to try not to,” she mumbled, leaning into her side. 

“I know you did,” Nicole said as she pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Dr. Molina said you need to eat whatever your body wants, though, remember?”

“But I don’t want to.”

“I know,” she mumbled. “I’m sorry.” 

Waverly sniffled, hugging Nicole’s arm to her front. They sat in silence for a few minutes as Nicole waited for her to calm down. She ran her nails up and down Waverly’s leg, looking down at her with a comforting smile. “Feel better?”

She nodded, bringing her knuckles up to her lips to press a few kisses to them. “Thank you.”

Nicole pushed another kiss to her head, standing up off the floor and holding her hands out for Waverly to take. She pulled her to her feet when she took them, reaching down beside her and grabbing the Cheeto bag. “You done?” 

“Another one and it’s puke-a-palooza,” Waverly mumbled. 

Nicole chuckled a little, rolling the bag up and shoving it back in the cabinet. “Alright then. Anything else in here you need?” 

“You,” Waverly said with a small smile, doing some grabby hands for her. 

“Aw,” Nicole cooed, leaning down and scooping her up bridal style. “How sweet.”

Waverly hummed a little as she carried her back to their room, gently setting her on her side of the bed before climbing up beside her. Waverly wrapped herself in her fuzzy blanket under the quilt, reaching out for Nicole’s hand under the covers. Nicole rolled to her side to face her, smiling a little when she saw a content look on her face that she hadn’t seen in a while. “I’m glad you kept something down even though it was, ya know . . . moo moo milk infused.”

Waverly swallowed the lasting feeling of regret in her throat. “Me, too.” 

Nicole pulled her hand closer to her face, leaning her cheek against it. “. . . I don’t like not being up when you’re up.”

“I’m ok-”

“You’re not ok,” Nicole huffed. “If- Ok, like, if you end up _passing out_ or something in the middle of the night, trying to get to the bathroom or to the kitchen or  _ wherever,  _ I’m not gonna know and that fuckin’ _scares_ me.”

Waverly shook her head. “That’s not gonna happen.”

“It could  _ very much  _ happen, Wave.”

Waverly shook her head, letting out a heavy sigh. “Ok. I’ll just . . . I’ll try and wake you up from now on, ok?”

Nicole nodded with a sad sigh, “Ok.” 

She still didn’t trust it. A million different scenarios were flying through her head that she wished weren’t, and it was enough to scare her into barely sleeping for the rest of that night and the following. She knew she would never be able to forgive herself if something were to happen overnight, and she just wasn’t going to be taking  _ any  _ chances.

**Thursday, September 25th, 2020 2:18 PM**

“Baby, that’s not  _ ok,”  _ Waverly huffed. “You can’t do that to yourself.”

“I’m  _ worried  _ about you,” she argued. 

“I understand that, but I’m not gonna let you lose your  _ job  _ over it. I told you I’d wake you up, and I  _ thought  _ I had been, but I guess not, huh?”

Nicole pursed her lips, looking away from her with a shake of her head. “Ok, that’s not- the  _ only  _ reason I’m here is to give you a heads up that I  _ might  _ have mentioned to Wynonna that you’re sick, and I  _ know  _ she’s gonna ask you about it now even though I told her that you weren’t telling her anything.” Waverly blinked at her for a few seconds, rubbing her face and letting out a raspberry as she turned away from her. “I didn’t know what else to tell her, ok? She knew  _ something  _ was up. And- And-”

Waverly turned back around. “The _very_ _last_ thing I need right now is for _everyone_ to be up my ass about it. That’s the _last fucking thing_ I need, Nicole.”

“I  _ told  _ her to leave you alone-”

Waverly threw her arms out. “She’s  _ Wynonna,  _ have you  _ met  _ her?” 

Nicole rolled her eyes, shifting her weight on her feet. “Alright, Waverly. What would you have  _ preferred  _ I told her when she asked me why you were all pissy yesterday and why I looked like a mess and haven’t been sleeping?” Waverly opened her mouth to answer, but she closed it right after, pursing her lips a bit. “Oh, you don’t have a logical answer to that? One that wouldn’t make her automatically assume I was lying to her?” Waverly pressed her tongue against her cheek as she glanced down at the tiles on the floor. “Yep. Didn’t think so.” Nicole grabbed her chin and pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth. “I’ll see you after work,” she mumbled, quickly turning away from her and shoving her hands in her pockets as she made her way to the classroom door. 

Nicole saw the group of study hall students waiting outside Waverly's door, giving them some forced smiles as she shut it behind her. She pushed through them, making her way down the hall with a heavy sigh and turning out of the building. 

She climbed back into her Tahoe in the parking lot and relaxed back into her seat, propping her elbow up on the window ledge of the car door and pinching the bridge of her nose with a sigh. She dropped the hand, tipping her head back against the headrest with a grimace and slamming both palms against the steering wheel with a curse. 

Her phone dinged in her pocket and she pulled it out with an annoyed huff at whoever it was, pausing when she read over the text. 

**Wifey 🌊 ❤️: I'm sorry. I love u**

Nicole rubbed her forehead, scratching her thumb against the side of her phone case before letting out a sigh as she gave in and answered her. 

**❤️ 💙 Nic ❤️ 💙: I'm sorry too. Love u ❤️**

Nicole clipped her phone to the mount on her AC fan and buckled her seatbelt with a sigh, starting the car and pulling out of the parking lot. 

Waverly Haught had her wrapped around her fucking finger, and there was absolutely  _ nothing _ that was going to change that.

**Tuesday, September 30th, 2020 6:13 PM**

Nicole pushed the front door open, immediately setting everything in her hands onto the shelf by the door and furrowing her brows as she rushed over to her crying wife on the floor by the couch. "Baby, what happened?" she asked softly as she knelt down beside her. 

"I dropped my water," she sobbed as she continued to try and dry the wet spot on the rug. 

Nicole grabbed the cup and set it on the coffee table, taking the towel from her hands and getting her to lean back against the couch. "It's ok, it's just water." She pushed her hair out of her face, unsticking it from her cheeks. "Don't worry about it, ok?" 

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, her voice muffled into her hands when she covered her face. 

"It's alright, Sweetheart," Nicole said softly. "Just relax." 

"Don't be mad at-"

"I'm not mad, Wave. Why would I be mad?" Nicole asked as she nudged Houdini away from climbing onto her as she started to clean up the spill some more. 

"I don't know. I thought-" 

Nicole recognized the look on her face, immediately grabbing the small trash can sitting beside the couch and handing it to her to shove her face in. ". . . I'm not mad, Baby." 

If you would have told Nicole that Waverly's hormones would flare over the next few days  _ a few days ago,  _ she would have asked you how much worse it could get. 

_ This. _

This is how much worse it could have gotten. 

Not only was Waverly more hormonal than a teenage girl PMSing  _ and  _ going through a breakup at the same time, but she also had those extra  _ extra _ hormones flowing which meant  _ more throwing up  _ every time you turned around. 

How she was managing to pull off school at this point was mind-boggling to Nicole, but what she did know was that she was  _ mostly  _ making them watch recorded lessons from other teachers on YouTube while she either tried to keep herself zen at her desk  _ or  _ just stood by the door, waiting for the moment she knew she needed to run to the bathroom. 

Sure, she was still teaching sometimes and she was still keeping up on work to grade, but she had made it a whole lot easier on herself despite the fact that she had been warned it was going to be nearly impossible to keep working with HG. 

And, honestly, Nicole knew the only reason she was still trying was because it was a distraction from everything. 

“Ok,” Nicole breathed out as she pushed herself to her feet, grabbing the towel and the trash can. “Stay there for a sec.” She tossed the towel in the laundry and got rid of the old trash bag and put a new one in, walking back over and setting it down where it had been before. She held her hands out for Waverly, pulling her up to her feet when she grabbed them. “Are you better now?” Waverly nodded, slipping under her arm and curling into her side. “M’kay. Let’s go watch some Netflix or something, ok?”

“Ok,” she mumbled, and Nicole led them towards their room, letting her go brush her teeth as she got the TV turned on and changed out of her work clothes. Waverly wandered back into the room as Nicole pulled a long-sleeved black shirt on, and she grabbed her uniform off the floor and tossed it into the hamper. Waverly picked Houdini up off the floor since he was jumping and whining at her ankles, climbing up onto the bed and letting him settle in between her legs. 

“You want anything before I sit down?” Nicole asked, pushing her hands into her sweatpants pockets. 

“I’m good.”

She nodded and climbed up on the bed beside her, dropping her hand to Waverly’s thigh when she curled into her side. “What d’you wanna watch?” 

“Put your ring on,” Waverly grumbled with narrowed eyes as she yanked the silicon one off her finger. 

Nicole chuckled, reaching over onto the nightstand and grabbing it. “There. Better?” 

“Mhm.”

_ “Now  _ what do you wanna watch?” Nicole asked. 

“Doesn’t matter to me,” she mumbled as she traced her fingers over the scars on the back of the hand on her thigh. “You pick.” 

Nicole settled on a documentary she knew that Waverly had been wanting to watch recently, and for a while, the only sound was Houdini’s soft snoring. Nicole didn’t notice it at first, but his snoring was soon accompanied by the sound of Waverly’s own. Nicole checked her phone for the time, shaking her head with a sigh when she saw it wasn’t even 7 PM yet.

The last hour of the documentary played through, and Nicole sighed, shutting the TV off and turning her body to slip her arms under Waverly’s legs and back, scooting her down the bed so she was laying down all the way. She pressed a soft kiss to her head before laying down herself and grabbing her phone, deciding to scroll through it for an hour or so before she went to sleep herself. 

**11:46 PM**

Calamity had come and settled on Nicole’s stomach after a while, and she slowly pushed her fingers through her fur, not really having noticed how much time had passed until she flicked her eyes up to the time at the top of the top of her screen. She let out a raspberry, shutting her phone off and setting it on the wireless charger. She moved Calamity to the space between her and Waverly, rolling onto her side to face her wife and letting out a heavy sigh as she closed her eyes for the night. 

After being threatened with painful death multiple times by Waverly, she had been pretty much  _ forced  _ to go to sleep every night despite her attempts in defending herself. In the long run, she knew it was better for herself, but it still scared her that she might not be awake if something happened.

So maybe it  _ was  _ a good thing that she had gotten distracted on her phone and stayed up later than she had planned on. 

Nicole’s eyes opened again after a few minutes when she felt the bed shift, and Waverly rolled over with a whine. Nicole let out a heavy sigh as she watched her crawl off the bed, sitting up and moving the blankets off herself.

Her head snapped right up when she heard the thud of Waverly hitting the floor by the end of the bed, though. 

_ “Baby.”  _ Nicole jumped off the bed and flicked the light on before dropping down onto the floor next to her. “Wave, hey.” 

Waverly choked back tears and reached out for her as she rolled to her side, pulling her knees to her chest. “Trash can.” 

Nicole let out a curse, sliding around the bed and grabbing the one that was sitting on the ground on her side of the bed. “Here.” She pushed her fingers through Waverly’s hair, pulling it back out of her face and letting out a shaky breath.

Waverly nudged it away from her after a minute, and Nicole moved it all the way out of the way, pulling her to sit up and lean back against the footboard of the bed. “What happened?” 

“I don't know- One second I was up, and then I was on the ground.”

Nicole clenched her jaw, pushing to her feet and grabbing Waverly’s hands to pull her to her own. “We’re going to the hospital.” 

Waverly gripped onto her shirt, leaning heavily into her front with tears rolling down her face. “I don’t wanna.”

“I don’t  _ care,  _ you just fainted. We’re going.” She pushed her hands against her shoulders and went to turn her around, but Waverly’s wobbly legs sent her falling back against her.  _ “Babe.” _

“I’m sorry-”

“Shh, it’s ok.” Nicole slid her arm under her knees and lifted her up, feeling her hands tighten into the front of her shirt as she walked them to the front door. She pushed her feet into her slides and carried her out to the car, setting her down in the passenger’s seat of the Tahoe. “I’ll be right back.” She opened the glove box and handed her a car sick bag that they had started keeping in all of the vehicles. She rushed inside to grab Waverly’s purse and her own wallet, both of their phones, and her car keys. She threw the trash bag from the bedroom away before grabbing Waverly’s Birkenstocks by the front door and rushing back out to the car. 

“I’m sorry,” Waverly said through a sob again.

Nicole started up the Tahoe and flicked just her lights on, quickly pulling away from the house. “It’s not your fault, Baby. It’s ok.” Nicole offered out her hand to her, and she pulled her whole arm over, hugging herself around it. “Has this happened before?”

“No,” she mumbled into her sleeve.

“Ok,” Nicole sighed, turning out onto the main road. “You’re gonna be ok, just breathe.”

**Friday, October 1st, 2020 12:31 AM**

“The faint was mostly caused by the severe dehydration and malnutrition, which is somewhat typical with HG,” the doctor said to them as he stood at the foot of Waverly’s hospital bed. “We’re running your bloodwork to make sure, though.” 

“Is the baby ok?” Waverly asked, moving the oxygen mask off her face that they had given her to try and calm down her breathing. 

“We’re getting an ultrasound down here to make sure,” he answered as Nicole pulled the mask back over her mouth with a pointed look. 

“Ok,” Nicole said, glancing towards Waverly with a little nod before looking back towards him. “Thank you.”

The doctor smiled a little, looking back towards Waverly. “I think we’re going to keep you overnight just to make sure everything’s alright. I’m guessing maybe . . . two more bags of fluid after the one you’re getting now should get your levels back to normal, so we’ll keep an eye on ya and go from there.” 

They both nodded in understanding, and Nicole thanked him again before he left the room. She scooted her chair closer to Waverly’s bed, taking her hand and pressing a few kisses to her knuckles as she met her exhausted eyes. “. . . You doing ok?” 

Waverly yanked the mask off of her face again. “They told me I could have been  _ dead  _ in two days, so no, not really.” 

Nicole sighed with a shake of her head, pressing her forehead against her hand for a few seconds with a heavy sigh. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. 

“For what?”

Nicole looked up at her with tears in her eyes. “I- I didn’t think it was as bad as it was- I mean, I knew it was bad, but not . . . not  _ this  _ bad.” 

Waverly shook her head, cupping her cheek gently. “It’s not your fault-”

“Yes, it is,” she huffed as a tear rolled down her cheek. “I’m supposed to be taking care of you.”

“You  _ are,  _ Nic. You are.” Waverly wiped the tear away. “It’s not your fault I haven’t been able to keep anything down.” 

“I should’ve taken you back to the doctor right after we knew the meds weren’t working, though,” she mumbled. “I just- I figured either they would start to eventually or we would just tell her during the next appointment and she’d set you up with something else.” 

Waverly let out a sigh with a slow shake of her head. “Nic,  _ I  _ told you that. I’m the one who wanted to wait- You’ve been pushing to do all the right things the entire time . . . The only thing we need to take away from this is that you need to stop listening to me when I say stupid things.”

“Does that mean I don’t ever have to listen-”

“I’m gonna beat your ass if you finish that sentence,” she warned, pulling her hands away from her. 

Nicole chuckled, putting the side of the bed down and climbing up next to her. “You would never.” 

“You know I will, that’s why you didn’t do it,” Waverly grumbled. 

Nicole shook her head, pressing a kiss to her temple. “Sure.” 

Waverly leaned into her side, pulling her hand into her lap after Nicole had wrapped her other arm around her. “. . . We’re gonna meet Haught Pocket for the first time.” 

“This isn’t exactly how I saw that going, but I’ll take it,” she mumbled. 

“I wonder how big they are,” Waverly sighed. “That nurse said a poppy seed at my 4 week mark, right?” 

Nicole pulled her phone out of her pocket. “Yeah . . . Let’s see.” 

“Look up six weeks, though. I’m like only two days from then.” 

“M’kay . . .” Nicole clicked around for a few seconds before pointing the phone towards her. “Says the size of a pea.” 

Waverly smiled a little, taking it from her hands and clicking onto the pictures that were of some ultrasounds. “That’s bigger than I thought, actually.” 

“Is it?”

Waverly nodded as she scrolled through some, clicking on one picture of a six-weeks pregnant woman with her shirt up. “I guess maybe ‘cause I don’t look pregnant at all yet,” she mumbled, pulling her gown up.

Nicole ran a gentle hand down her stomach. “You’ve got a little bump.”

“No, I don’t,” she huffed. 

“Yeah-huh. Down here you do.” She slid her hand across the lower half of her stomach. “If I didn’t know exactly what you looked like to a T, I probably wouldn’t notice at all, though.” 

“I look like a  _ twig  _ now, not bigger than before.” 

“I mean, they said you lost another six pounds, so no shocker there.”

Waverly let out a sad sigh, handing her the phone back and snuggling back into her side after pulling the front of her gown back down. “How come this had to be shitty?” 

“What did?”

“This pregnancy,” she huffed. “Wynonna’s was completely normal, but  _ no,  _ I’ve gotta be  _ suffering  _ every second of every day for the next two or three months- maybe even the entire thing, who knows.”

“I know,” Nicole mumbled, pressing a couple of kisses to her head. “We’ve just gotta keep our heads up, though.”

Waverly shifted a bit. “Still . . . I’m the one who actually  _ wanted  _ to be pregnant.” 

“Wave,” Nicole mumbled. “That’s not fair.” 

“It’s true, though!” 

Nicole threw her a look. “It doesn’t have anything to do with it, though. You two are totally different people. Your body works differently than her’s does.”

Waverly was about to say something else, but they both looked towards the door when it opened, and two nurses walked in; One was pushing the ultrasound cart and the other seemed to be bringing in another bag of fluid. Nicole pushed off the bed and sat back down in her own chair.

“Hi, Waverly. I’m Aaliyah,” the nurse with the ultrasound said as the other got to work hooking up the new bag since the first one she had gotten was almost empty now. The other one jotted some things down on her chart after checking all the monitors before turning back out of the room. 

“Hi,” she mumbled with a small smile. 

“They said they just wanted me to take a look at the baby to make sure everything’s going ok, right?” she questioned.

“I think so, yeah . . . We haven’t done an ultrasound yet, so.”

“No?” Aaliyah asked as she pulled the blanket over her legs back. 

“No,” Waverly answered. “We’ve got an appointment with my OB in two days, and she was just gonna do the first one then.”

“Ah, gotcha.” Aaliyah fired up the machine with a press of a few buttons. “I’ll explain it a little then since this is your first one.” She grabbed a wand off the machine. “So this is the vaginal transducer-” She noticed the way Waverly’s eyes popped out, so she grabbed the other one that. “You’re probably used to seeing the abdominal transducer, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah. That one is usually used down the road when the baby’s bigger, but we use this one more during the first trimester because it gets closer to what we need to be looking at.” 

She nodded in understanding. “Ok, that makes sense.” 

“Yeah. So I’ll just insert it and search around for wherever the baby’s sitting in your uterus, and we’ll go from there. Does that sound good?”

“Sounds great.”

“Perfect.” Aaliyah got everything set up and ready to go, and Nicole took Waverly’s hand after she turned the monitor towards them all. “Now where’s Baby . . .” There were three gasps after a second when the black blob popped up on the screen for the first time. “There’s Baby!”

Waverly looked towards Nicole with a grin, and she leaned forward to press a kiss to her head.  _ “Dude, _ we did that.” 

“Hell yeah, we did,” Waverly breathed out, flicking her eyes towards Aaliyah. “Do they look ok?” 

“They said you’re almost six weeks along, right?” 

“Yeah, I will be on the third,” Waverly answered.

Aaliyah nodded. “Then yeah.” She pointed to the small white blob inside the black blob. “There’s Baby, looking just the right size that they should be.” She moved the view around a bit. “And it doesn’t look like Baby’s got any friends in there with them, so your HG’s not being caused by  _ that _ . . . Everything looks good, though.” 

“See, nothing to worry about,” Nicole mumbled with an assuring smile, and Waverly let out a breath of relief. 

“Would you like some pictures to take home with you?” Aaliyah asked. 

“Yes, please,” Waverly said with a smile, and she nodded as she snapped a few different angles, handing her the pictures once they printed out. 

“We’re gonna  _ try  _ to hear a heartbeat, but it’s common that we might not be able to hear one yet, so if we don’t, there’s no need to start freaking out.” 

“Ok,” they both said together.

“Are we ready?” They both nodded, so she pressed a button, and they both looked towards each other when they immediately heard the thumping and saw it being marked on the line on the screen. “And there we go.” 

“Oh my God,” Waverly breathed out. 

“That’s so cool,” Nicole mumbled with a smile on her face wider than could be. “Haught Pocket's already blowing my mind.” 

“Everything’s sounding good,” Aaliyah said. “There’s nothing to worry about regarding the baby right now, so I wouldn’t worry too much about that.” She shut the machine off and pulled the wand back, letting Waverly settle again. “I would just focus on getting yourself better again. Your health matters just as much as theirs does, even though I know all you want to focus on is them.”

Waverly nodded, giving her a little smile. “Ok, I will . . . Thank you.” 

She pulled the cart with her towards the door. “You are very welcome. I’ll tell someone we’re done in here, so someone should be back in soon to go over some more things with you.”

They thanked her again, and she slipped out of the room with the ultrasound, leaving them alone with one another and the sonogram pictures of their baby. 

**8:02 AM**

Since the doctor had come in when Waverly had already fallen asleep the night before, he had waited until the next morning to return and discuss some things with them. Nicole hadn’t gotten much sleep from the combination of both the thoughts running rampant in her brain  _ and  _ the fact that her bed on the couch in their room felt like she was sleeping on railroad tracks, so she was sipping on her second coffee of the morning already. 

“I consulted with your doctor this morning after she read through your charts, and we decided it was best to put you on bed rest for the next two weeks at least,” the doctor told them. 

_ “Two weeks?”  _ Waverly asked with her brows raised high.

“It’ll probably end up being more time that you’re off work- probably until you’re around 16 weeks along.”

Waverly pushed her hand through her hair, letting out a nervous breath as she looked towards Nicole. She gave her hand a squeeze. “We already knew it was just a matter of time, Baby,” Nicole said softly.

“I know,” she mumbled sadly. “Still.”

The doctor shifted as he looked down at his tablet. “On the bright side, we’re starting you on some new medicine that will hopefully help you be able to stomach things better." 

"And by better, you mean more than just a few sips of water and some crackers every two days?" Waverly asked. 

He nodded with a smile. "Yes, that's exactly what I mean . . . It sounds alarming, but this medication, Ondansetron,  _ i _ s what is sometimes prescribed to chemo patients for their nausea, but that just means it is  _ very  _ strong." 

Waverly widened her eyes at him a bit. "Is there . . . crazy side effects or anything?" 

"Nothing  _ too _ severe besides the possible temporary blindness and heart problems, but those are very, very rare, of course. The more common ones are headaches, a fever, and disorientation, though."

"So nothing _super_ bad that's common?" Nicole asked.

"Not necessarily, no . . . " He looked back towards Waverly. "This is gonna be a once a day pill that you're gonna take  _ right  _ before you go to bed. It's one of those that dissolves on your tongue. This way,  _ hopefully  _ when you wake up, you won't be as nauseous, so the most nauseous time of your day is going to be the late evening and night before you go to bed." 

She nodded a little in understanding. "So . . . If this does work for me, I should follow the dietary schedule my OB gave me, right?" 

"Yes, that's correct. It may take a day or two for your body to get used to, so don't expect to take it tonight and wake up tomorrow as good as new. You're  _ always  _ going to feel a little sick and there will be times where you still  _ get  _ sick, there'll be no changing that. Sure, we're  _ hoping  _ you'll be able to return to work soon, but it's just not likely right now. Plus, with your two-week bed rest to let your body recover from this, it'll also give it time to get used to the new medicine so you  _ can  _ get right back into the game." 

Waverly met Nicole's eyes, and she gave Waverly a look of reassurance when she saw the nerves dancing on her face. "It'll all work out, I promise." 

Waverly let out a heavy sigh as she slowly looked back towards the doctor. "I hope so." 

"Do either of you have any more questions before we send you on your way?" 

"I don't," Nicole said as she looked towards Waverly. "Do you?" 

Waverly shook her head. "I think I'm good, too." 

"Alright then. I'll leave you two to it. Just have a chat with the front desk and they'll go ahead and get you signed out."

"Thanks, Doc," Nicole sighed as he turned out of the room. She shifted towards Waverly, squeezing her leg.

"This sucks," Waverly mumbled. 

"It's for the better," Nicole reasoned. 

"I could understand telling me that I can't work, but  _ bed rest?  _ Who the hell is gonna take care of me? I know you can't just take off for two weeks." 

"Sure, I can-"

"No, I mean I'm not  _ letting  _ you. One of us needs to be working right now, and it can't be me." 

"Wave, it's ok. We'll be fine-" 

She shook her head. "You're staying on the schedule. Plain and simple. I guess . . . I guess I'm just gonna have to tell someone."

"Who then?" Nicole asked. 

Waverly pushed the blankets off herself with a sigh, slowly throwing her legs over the bed and taking Nicole's hands to help herself to her feet. "I've got someone in mind." 

**4:57 PM**

"Do I look ok?" Waverly asked, pulling at her red-orange sweater as she looked at herself in the mirror in their bedroom. 

"You look fine, Babe," Nicole said with a smile, pushing her kiss to her cheek as she moved behind her. "Relax. It's gonna be fine."

Waverly let out a heavy sigh, turning around and leaning back against the sink. "I'm just nervous." 

"I am, too," Nicole mumbled, leaning her hands against the counter on either side of her body. 

"Why are  _ you  _ nervous?" Waverly questioned with a tip of her head, sliding her hands down her chest and tugging at the front of her coral button-down. 

"Because there is only  _ one _ woman that truly scares me in this world, and it is your mother," Nicole answered as she leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her lips. 

Waverly let out a hum, tightening her fists into her shirt and tipping her head when she quickly met her eyes. "You're not afraid of me?"

Nicole swallowed a little. "Uh . . . Sometimes?" 

Waverly shook her head with a tsk. "I guess I need to up my game then." 

"Please don't," she mumbled with a little pout. 

“Why?” she asked with a grin, pulling her down and pressing a kiss to her jaw. 

Nicole let out a low hum, wrapping her fingers around the bottom of her chin and pulling her face back up to her lips. “‘Cause I love you just the way you are.”

“Mm, sure, that’s why,” Waverly muttered, smirking against her lips and wrapping her arm around her neck when Nicole slipped her hands under her ass and lifted her up to set her on the counter. Nicole let out a heavy breath, grabbing her hips and pulling her even closer to her as she leaned forward into her. 

Waverly pushed her hands into her hair, tugging her into a deeper kiss. Nicole groaned against her mouth, pulling her legs up to lock around her waist. “When’s the last time we made out?” 

“Too long ago,” Waverly mumbled. “I don’t wanna throw up in your mouth right now, so I’d take it when you can get it.” 

"See, now that you said that,  _ I  _ wanna throw up in _your_ mouth." 

"Is this what they call romance?" Waverly asked with a giggle. 

"I mean, I hope so. It doesn't get much better than this." 

"Are you sure about that?" 

"Mm . . . Maybe just kiss me." 

"Thought so," Waverly giggled, pulling her back in to meet her lips. 

"Have I ever mentioned you look very,  _ very  _ sexy in this sweater?" 

"Such a  _ flirt, _ Sheriff Haught," Waverly purred, sliding her hands around behind her to squeeze her ass. "For the record, your  _ ass _ in white jeans?" 

"Top shelf, right?" 

"The  _ toppest _ top, yes." 

Nicole chuckled, sliding her lips down to her neck. "The toppest top in more ways than one." 

"You're pushing it there, Bud." 

Nicole pulled back to meet her eyes.  _ "Bud?"  _

Waverly giggled again, meeting her lips. "D'you know  _ why  _ your ass looks so good in white- Not  _ only  _ your white dress pants from the wedding but also these skinny jeans?" 

"Why's that, Baby?" she muttered against her mouth.

"'Cause they match your skin tone, so you just look naked all the time." 

Nicole scoffed in offense, pulling back from her.  _ "Ouch."  _

"Am I wrong?" 

Nicole muttered something semi-threatening under her breath as she nudged the collar of her sweater out of the way and latched her teeth onto her collarbone. Waverly let out a sharp moan, tightening her fingers into her hair with a curse. 

A knock at the front door followed immediately after, and they quickly pulled away from one another with wide eyes, and Nicole quickly cleared her throat and scooped Waverly off the counter. 

"I can walk," she huffed, smacking her shoulder as Nicole carried her into the living room and set her on the couch. 

"You're on bed rest, remember?" 

Waverly threw her a look, and Nicole gave her an innocent smile, pushing her hands through her hair a few times to tame it as she walked over to the door and pulled it open. "Hi," she said with a warm smile, stepping to the side. "C'mon in." 

"Hey. How are ya?" Michelle asked as she squeezed her arm when she walked past her. 

Nicole wiped her sweaty palms off nervously on her jeans. "I'm alright, how are you?" 

"I'm alright. Kinda confused as to what I'm doing here, but I guess time will tell." She raised a knowing brow at Nicole, and she swallowed nervously with a smile. 

Of course she knew they hadn't just  _ invited her to dinner  _ to  _ invite her to dinner. _

Michelle walked into the living room, smiling at Waverly. "And hello to you, too." 

"Hi, Mama," she said as she stood and walked over to her, wrapping her in a hug. "Thanks for coming." 

"You're very welcome."

The stove beeped in the kitchen, and Nicole turned out of the room to take care of it. Michelle raised her brows with a little smirk as she sat down next to Waverly on the couch. "Putting her to work, aye?" 

"Sure am," she grinned, leaning her head on her fist after propping her elbow up on the back of the couch. 

It seemed both Waverly  _ and  _ Michelle noticed it at the same time, so Waverly's quick attempt to hide the hospital bracelet she had forgotten to take off that was visible when the sleeve of her sweater slid down was pretty much useless. 

Michelle grabbed her arm with narrowed eyes, and Waverly clenched her jaw when she began to read over the information on it. "Admitted _today,_ huh?" She met her daughter's eyes. "I'm gonna take a hard guess and say that's got  _ everything _ to do with why Wynonna ain't stopped flappin' her gums 'bout ya  _ and  _ why I've been invited over for dinner tonight." 

Waverly looked away from her. "Nic, how's dinner going?" 

"It's done, y'all can come get it." 

Waverly went to get up, but Michelle pulled her right back onto the couch. "Uh-uh. Dallas, get your ass in here so you both can explain to me what the hell's goin' on." 

Nicole pursed her lips, flicking her eyes towards Waverly and sighing when it looked as if she was too afraid to tell her it could wait until  _ after  _ they ate like it was planned. She walked in and sat down next to Waverly, looking towards her with a raise of her brows. 

Waverly cleared her throat, letting her eyes fall to Nicole's hand when she dropped it in her lap for her to hold. "Um . . . So this really wasn't how we wanted this to happen, but we have good news and bad news." 

Michelle blinked at her for a moment. "You want me to pick what I want to hear first?" 

"Yeah," she mumbled. 

"Well God damn, give me the good news first," she huffed. 

Waverly looked back at Nicole with a small smirk on her lips, and she met Michelle's impatient eyes. ". . . The good news is I'm letting  _ you  _ help design the new back porch and weight room I'm building onto the house since I know you  _ love _ watching those home improvement shows." 

She raised her brows with a smile. "You're building onto the house?" 

"We are," Nicole confirmed with a grin.

"Well, why a new weight room of all things? You've got one upstairs already, don't you?" 

"Yeah, we do," Nicole confirmed. "We have to move it, though." 

"Why?" She glanced towards Waverly. "Is it too small for your supermodel Sheriff's needs?" 

"Aw," Nicole cooed.

Waverly rolled her eyes as she smacked her chest.  _ "No,  _ it's not too small. We just, uh . . . Well, we've gotta put the new nursery somewhere."

Michelle's brow furrowed in confusion, but they both braced themselves when they saw the moment of realization pass over her. Her hand shot out to grip onto Waverly's knee. "You're  _ pregnant?" _

Waverly giggled, squeezing her hand with a nod. "Yeah." 

Michelle jumped off the couch, covering her cheeks with her hands.  _ "You're pregnant?!" _

_ "Yes, _ Mama, I'm pregnant!" she laughed. "Look." She moved a book on the coffee table and held up the line of sonogram pictures. 

Michelle took the pictures, looking them over for a moment before letting out a string of words that were too excitedly smashed together to understand as she yanked Waverly to her feet and crushed her in a hug. "I'm getting another grandbaby!"

Waverly hugged her back, letting out a groan.  _ "Ook, _ not too tight." She gave her back a pat, and Michelle released her python grip and moved her hands to rest on her sides. 

"How long have you been  _ keeping  _ this from me?" she asked with a teary huff, grabbing Nicole and pulling her into her own squishing hug. 

"We only found out, like, a little over two weeks ago, so not that long," Waverly answered with a smile as Nicole tried to detach her from her middle to avoid suffocating. 

"Good," Michelle mumbled, wiping her eyes as she moved her hands back to Waverly's sides. "How far along are you?" 

"Six weeks tomorrow," she mumbled with a smile. 

_ "Wow," _ she breathed out. "That's  _ amazing. _ I'm so  _ happy _ for you two." She gave her sides another squeeze, raising her brow a bit when she did. "You're awfully skinny, Angel. Have ya always had your ribs poking out like that?" 

Waverly pursed her lips a little, taking her hands and letting them rest on her leg when she sat them back on the couch. "So Haught Pocket in May is the good news-" 

"Oh, for God's sake," Michelle grumbled. 

_ "Personally, _ I think it's adorable," Nicole reasoned.

Waverly shot her a look over her shoulder before looking back at her mother. "But, uh . . . Bad news is that I'm having some pretty bad and scary and . . . just all around shitty complications that have basically made this entire thing so far a living hell for me." 

Michelle slowly shook her head. "Don't tell me it's HG." 

Waverly tipped her head at her a little. "It is . . . How d'you know about it?" 

"'Cause I had it with you!" she huffed. "I'm so sorry, Angel."

"Really?" Waverly asked with a tightened brow. 

"I did," she confirmed. "I always thought it was a punishment for cheating with your father, but-" She shook her head and grabbed her arm with the hospital bracelet again. "What happened today then?" 

"She fainted in the middle of the night last night, so we ran up there," Nicole mumbled. "They kept us overnight and gave her three bags of fluids since she was extremely dehydrated or whatever." 

"Oh my God," Michelle mumbled. 

"Yeah, and now I'm on meds that people getting chemo take, so that's totally not scary at all." 

"And," Nicole started softly for her, giving her hip a squeeze from behind her. 

"And I, uh, I'm on bed rest for two weeks." 

"Two weeks?" Michelle asked, and they both nodded. 

"So . . . Since I'm making Nic keep working, I was just wondering if you'd wanna take care of me while she's not here?" Waverly gave her a toothy smile. "Just, ya know, making sure I don't die and maybe making a mad dash to the store whenever I want something that I probably won't even be able to eat." 

"Dini has gotten so many treats lately, hasn't he?" Nicole cooed as she rubbed his stomach on her lap. "Burgers, chicken, all the things I can't eat 'cause I made a dumb deal with Mommy." 

"Would you quit acting like it's gonna kill you?" Waverly huffed. "You're  _ completely  _ fine."

“I’m not fine, am I, Dini?” she asked as she scooped him up and flipped him over to hold him like a baby, leaning back against the arm of the couch. “I have to be around Wynonna every day at work and  _ not  _ steal her food now. It’s so sad.” 

Waverly looked back at her. “Keep it up and I’ll make you hold off until the baby’s here.” Nicole looked up at her with wide eyes. “Mhm, thought so.” Waverly looked back towards her mother, who was shaking her head at them. “Anyway.” 

“Anyway . . . Of course I’ll take care of you, Honey. Whenever you need me, I’ll be here.”

Waverly smiled wide, leaning forward to wrap her in a hug. “Thank you, Mama.” 

Michelle ran her hand up and down her back with a smile. “You’re welcome.” She pulled back, and Michelle grabbed her face to push a kiss to her forehead. “You two are going to be  _ amazing  _ mothers.”

Waverly smiled softly at her, meeting Nicole’s eyes as she turned her head to look at her. “I hope so.” 

“I know so,” Michelle smiled, patting Waverly’s knee and standing up. “Alright, there’s food to be ate. Now you two get to explain to me how it is that, uh . . .” she flicked her eyes between them, “you got yourself pregnant.”

Nicole laughed, drooping her arm over Waverly’s shoulders with a shitty grin. “How in-details should we get with that?”

Waverly smacked her stomach, taking a seat at the island. “We’re keepin’ it PG, Haught.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jeez, man, Waves is not having a good time with this at all. Let's hope it gets better soon.   
> Soft Nic really is the best Nic, you can't go wrong with that.
> 
> Thanks for reading. You guys are always so awesome
> 
> Also hells yeahs to that PCA award last night


	9. That Ignorant Bitch’s Mouth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone's a Krabby Patty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YO  
> What's poppin?  
> Yeah ok it's getting to the end of this semester so most of my time has been spent having mental breakdowns so 🤷  
> Uhhhhh this chapter is kinda whatever idk. I was gonna add another part but I decided it would make more sense at the beginning of the next chap so yeah. Hope y'all like it.  
> Not sure when the next chaps of Lucky Strike and Looking to Belong are coming out. AJ has a new obsession with some anime so she's been writing shit for that and Solace is just really going through it plus the next chapter is a lot so yeah. I'll let y'all know when I know something about those.  
> BUT FOR NOW HERE'S THIS!

**Saturday, October 9th, 2020 5:37 PM**

“Dini, I told you, you can’t help,” Nicole mumbled for the millionth time as she nudged him away, grabbing the ball out of his mouth and chucking it to the other side of the yard. She lifted the auger and set the digger on the spray paint mark she had marked the grass with, making sure it was lined up with the previous holes she had just put in the ground before turning it on. 

She was currently getting some work done outside since she had finally gotten everything ready to build onto the house. She had finished mapping everything out today and was now finishing up digging the holes dug for the foundation to be put in. She was pretty excited if she was being honest. She had gotten the all-clear after Michelle made the final design touches to the plan, and now they were ready to rock and roll. 

She knew that she could haul Doc and Dolls over to help when she needed them, but she wasn't at that point yet. All she was planning on for the rest of today was getting all the holes dug and getting the foundation tubes put in for the porch, and then finishing up putting the wood up in the already dug-out area for the new workout room's foundation mappers. She could deal with pouring the concrete for everything some other time. 

Nicole pulled the auger out of the ground and moved it to the side, staring down into the final deep hole that was now in her yard. She pulled the beanie on her head a little more over her ears before grabbing the ball from Houdini again and throwing it. She was just about to jump into the hole in the ground with her wood and nail gun when she lifted her head and listened in when she heard raised voices. 

"If I wanna walk around my _own fucking house,_ I can!" 

"What by _bed rest_ do you not _understand,_ Waverly?!" 

"I'm _fine!"_

"You're not _fine!"_

Nicole let out a heavy, annoyed sigh as she ran a hand down her face. Waverly had been on bed rest for a little over a week of the two that she had been told to, and she was getting stir crazy. Nicole didn't have as much of a hard time dealing with her as Michelle did, but that was probably because Nicole was usually too scared of her pregnant wife to restrict her from things. 

Michelle, though, was more than happy to strap her to the bed if she needed to. 

Nicole unhooked the dog from the lead they had attached to the single tree in their backyard and shoved her free hand in her jeans pocket as she walked around the house. She pushed the front door open and set Houdini on the floor, slowly walking into the danger zone. 

"Nic, tell her!"

Nicole met Waverly's eyes with wide ones, looking between her and Michelle for a moment. "What's going on?" 

"I'm cleaning up a bit and she's trying to help," Michelle huffed. 

Nicole looked towards Waverly with a tip of her head. "Babe. C'mon."

She threw her arms out. "I can do _laundry._ It's not like I'm trying to run a marathon." 

"You're not supposed to, Honey," Nicole reasoned as she walked closer to them. "You're supposed to be saving your energy." 

"I can't do _anything!_ What am I saving energy for?!" 

"Ok, you know what?" Nicole turned Waverly around and led her back to the bedroom. "In bed, go." 

_"Nicole-"_

"Wait." Nicole turned out of the room and grabbed the laundry basket Michelle had taken from Waverly. She walked back into the room and set it in front of her. "Fold laundry _in bed._ Is that better?" 

"I hate both of you," Waverly grumbled as she yanked the basket closer to her. 

"I love you, too, Baby," Nicole sighed, setting some hangers next to her. She turned out of the room, catching Michelle's annoyed eyes as she walked back into the living room. 

"How dare you." 

"What?" Nicole asked with a huff. 

"Get her pregnant." 

Nicole let out a snort, shaking her head as she dropped onto the couch. "Tell me about it." 

Michelle walked over to the fridge and grabbed two beers, handing one over to Nicole before sitting down on the other end of the couch. "I'm glad she's doing better . . . but God damn." 

Nicole tossed the cap on the coffee table, sinking back against the couch as she took a long pull from the bottle. "She just . . . doesn't like not being able to sail her own ship, I guess." 

"That's my daughter, alright." 

Nicole chuckled with a nod. "Mhmm." 

They both looked back when they heard footsteps, and Nicole raised her brows at Waverly in warning. "Ma'am." 

"I'm lonely," she mumbled, walking around the couch and curling up on Nicole's lap. 

"Welp . . . You lasted about five minutes."

Waverly smacked the bottom of Nicole's beer bottle when she went to take another drink. _"Ass."_

She wiped her chin with a laugh. "I'm not wrong." Waverly leaned her head against her shoulder with an annoyed sigh, and Nicole hummed as she pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. "Haught Pocket's being nice today, hm?" 

"For once, yeah, she is." 

Nicole cocked a brow high. _"She?"_

"Ain't no way this little asshole is a boy," Waverly grumbled. "Boys are lazy and don't give a shit, and Haught Pocket's made it their mission to bother me." 

Nicole slowly nodded. ". . . I mean, _I've_ always thought it was a boy." 

_"Really?"_ Waverly asked with a hitched lip. 

"Yeah," she laughed. "Seems like a dude thing to steal all your joy in life for their own good."

"Fair point," Waverly said with a nod. "Still. My mommy magic's telling me it's a girl." 

"I mean, my not-pregnant mommy magic is telling me it's a boy, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see." 

"That's absolutely not a thing," Waverly huffed, looking towards her mother. "What d'you think?" 

"Well . . . To be fair, I always assumed your annoying ass in me was a boy 'cause . . . ya know, what Dallas said. Boys suck the joy out of life. Turns out _you_ were the one doing me dirty, though." 

Waverly gave her a toothy grin. "I'm paying for it now." 

"Damn right, you are." 

"Damn right, I am," she echoed with a sad sigh, letting her head drop back against Nicole's shoulder. 

**10:39 PM**

Waverly tousled a towel through her hair as she walked towards their bedroom, dropping her hands to her sides and rolling her eyes when she saw Nicole's pervy eyes on her from the bed. "Can I help you?" 

"I'm just waitin’ for you to do a lil towel tease," she smirked. 

Waverly shook her head, tossing the one she used on her hair into the hamper. "Thought so." She opened the closet and grabbed one of Nicole's t-shirts, making sure her back was to her wife before letting her towel drop. 

"Aw, Baby, c'mon," Nicole whined. "I worked hard today, I deserve more than a little booty." 

"You’re drunk.”

“Am not! I only had four beers!” Waverly looked back over her shoulder at her with a pointed look. “. . . Ok, maybe five.” 

“Mhm. Also, you made fun of me with my mother today," Waverly reasoned.

"Ok, I'm _sorry."_

"But are you?" 

"Yes, Honey, I'm very sorry. Can I see some titty now?" 

Waverly pulled the shirt on with a heavy sigh, turning around as Nicole let out a groan. "Nope." She grabbed some underwear and pulled them on before walking over and sliding onto Nicole's lap with a tight-lipped smile. 

"That was mean." 

"Was it?" 

"Yes."

Waverly shook her head as she slid her hands down the front of her blue shirt. “Believe it or not, I don’t have to let you motorboat me every time you ask.” 

_“Believe it or not,_ I’ve never motorboated you,” Nicole said with a shrug. “Also, I know for a _fact_ that you did that just to tease me ‘cause you would’ve just taken clothes in there if you didn’t want me to see you.” Nicole saw Waverly purse her lips for a millisecond and smirked wide. “Am I wrong?” 

“Yes, you are.” 

“You know you’re a bad liar, right?” she asked with a laugh, grinning as she slipped her hands up the bottom of Waverly’s shirt and squeezed gently at her chest. 

“Unfortunately,” she mumbled, pushing her hands down and rolling off her lap to be on her side of the bed. “My meds are starting to wear off, though, so if I let you in my pants, I’m not gonna be able to keep dinner down.”

Nicole pouted her lip a bit as Waverly grabbed her medicine bottle off the nightstand. “Well, I don’t want you to have to shove your face in a toilet . . . But I also wanna eat you out.”

Waverly flicked off the lamp on her side, crawling under the blankets and leaning towards her to press a kiss to her lips. “You can eat me out tomorrow morning. Deal?” 

Nicole smiled with a nod. “Deal.” She turned her lamp off and slid under the covers, setting her phone on the nightstand as Waverly curled into her side with her head on her chest. “Mm, night night, Baby.”

“Night,” Waverly said through a yawn. “I love you.”

Nicole slid her hand down her side with a squeeze. “I love you, too.” 

**Sunday, October 10th, 2020 3:45 AM**

Waverly’s eyes blinked open a little, and she sucked in a long breath, flicking her squinted eyes towards the clock on the nightstand to see what time it was. She let out the breath she had pulled in and closed her eyes again, snuggling her head back into Nicole’s chest to try and go back to sleep. 

Waverly’s eyes opened again, though, and she moved her ear so she could press it right against her chest.

Her heart jumped to her throat and she sat straight up, grabbing Nicole’s neck to press her fingers against it and smacking her across the face with the other hand. 

She jumped awake, flicking her eyes around before landing on Waverly’s wide ones. “What the fuck, Dude?” she muttered, rubbing her hand across her cheek as she slumped back against her pillow. 

“Oh, thank god,” Waverly breathed out. 

“What’d you hit me for?” 

“I thought you were _dead!”_

Nicole let out a huff, _“Why_ would I be dead?” 

“I don’t _know!”_ She pulled her knees to her chest and covered her face with her hands. “I didn’t hear your heartbeat and my head was, like, _right_ on top of it.”

 _“Sorry,_ I’ll try not to be dead next time,” Nicole muttered.

 _“Cole,”_ Waverly snapped with a shake to her voice. “It fucking scared me, ok?”

Nicole let out a heavy sigh. “C’mere.” She grabbed Waverly and pulled her to lay back down on top of her. She hugged her arms around her body and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’m not dead, Baby. You ain’t gettin’ rid of me that easy.” 

Waverly let out a breath, wrapping her fingers around one of her wrists and pressing her thumb against the middle of the inside of it to feel her pulse. “Good. ‘Cause I’d beat your ass back to life.” 

Nicole hummed with a chuckle as she pressed her lips against her temple. “Oh, I know it.”

Waverly smiled, reaching up and cupping one of her cheeks. She felt the warmth it was radiating from where she had hit her and let out a sad noise, scooting up her body so she could litter it with kisses. “I sorry.” 

“It’s ok,” Nicole mumbled softly. “Even though I was having a really good dream that you pulled me out of . . .”

“What was it about?” Waverly asked with a little smile. 

“Well . . . I was still working in Calgary, but I was a detective. That was my goal working there anyway, so I guess I had gotten there. But, uh . . . Wynonna was my partner.”

“Oh no.”

“Yeah, so we get a case on this, like, pet store robber. Apparently, like, eight shelters and pet stores in the area have had animals stolen from them or whatever. There’s barely any evidence. The suspect was always disabling security systems and taking the animals at night when nobody is there. The only thing they _do_ have is a glove that got left. It was like a black, winter glove kinda.”

“Ooh,” Waverly mumbled. “A lead.”

“So they run DNA on the glove and all they can tell us is that it’s a woman. Wynonna’s all pissy ‘cause she doesn’t wanna be working the case ‘cause she thinks it’s dumb or whatever, but I’m just always keeping her in line like usual. So . . . I don’t really remember what happened. I think they got another lead and it was like a partial plate number and a semi-description of the car.”

“What was it?” 

“They said a jeep, but that’s all they knew about the car ‘cause the witness barely saw it.” 

“See, I’m liking this robber. Stealing animals from cages _and_ she drives a jeep.”

Nicole chuckled. “Yeah, I bet you do love her . . . Wynonna’s still being annoying about it ‘cause she doesn’t think the case is going anywhere since this robber is so good at not leaving anything behind. I think I was getting the same way, too, but I don’t really know. Uh, some other stuff happened that I don’t remember, but _right_ before we’re about to hand the case off to someone else, I’m at home- which was my apartment in Calgary, but we both lived there apparently. You asked me to get something from your coat, so I’m digging around in the pockets, and . . . and I pull _one_ black glove out.” 

“It was _me?!”_

“Yes!” Nicole laughed. “You woke me up right after that, so I don’t know what happened, but yeah. That was my dream. Waves the animal robber.” 

“Aw,” she cooed, pushing up to press a kiss to her lips. “That was a good bedtime story. Thank you, Sweetie Pie.” 

Nicole hugged an arm around her body when she settled laying back on top of her, sliding her nails up Waverly’s back when she slipped her hand up the back of her shirt. “You’re welcome.” She kicked a leg out from under the blanket to cool herself down considering that she now had a giant heater on top of her. “You ready to go back to sleep now?”

“Mhm,” Waverly mumbled sleepily, which gave Nicole the answer just as much as her response. “Night, Baby.”

“Sweet dreams,” Nicole whispered as she let her eyes fall closed again.

**Friday, October 15th, 2020 9:08 AM**

_“Fuck,_ Baby, right there,” Waverly breathed out, tightening her fist in Nicole’s hair. 

Sure, maybe it wasn’t the morning that she had promised to let Nicole eat her out; it was five days later. She had still done so that morning, but here they were, going at it again. 

Nicole hummed against her, pressing her palms down on her hips to keep her down on the bed. Waverly met her eyes with an opened mouth when Nicole looked up at her with a smirk, and she threw her head back against the pillow with a moan. "Fuck, I'm gonna come." 

Nicole sucked harder on her clit, pressing down harder on her hips when they started jumping towards her face. It took a second, but they soon snapped forward as Waverly let out a sharp cry, fisting the sheets with one hand and Nicole's hair with the other. 

Nicole brought her down and crawled up her body, grabbing her face and pressing an opened mouth kiss to her lips. Waverly moaned again, slowly sliding her hands down her arms. "Good morning to you, too," she mumbled with a heavy breath.

Nicole grinned with a chuckle. "Why, good morning, Sunshine. Sleep well?" 

"I did," Waverly answered with a smile as Nicole laid on her side next to her. "That made it even better, though." 

"You like wakin' up with my mouth on you?" Nicole asked with a grin as she leaned towards her and pressed some kisses to her jaw.

"I do," she mumbled. "I really do." 

"Thought so." Nicole nipped at the corner of her jaw bone once more before sitting back. ". . . Are you excited for today?" 

Waverly looked towards her with a wide grin, rolling to sit on top of her. Of _course_ she was excited for today. She was _finally_ off fucking bed rest. She wasn't really sure as to _what_ she was going to do, but she knew damn well she was going to live it up now that she was able to leave the house. 

Ok, maybe not live it up _too_ hard. She was still on the verge of throwing up 50% of the time, and of that 50%, 25% of the time she actually was.

“What’re we gonna do today?” Waverly asked with a tip of her head as she traced her thumbs over Nicole’s abs after pushing her shirt up. 

Nicole shrugged. “Whatever you wanna do, I don’t care.” 

_“Whatever_ I wanna do?” she asked with a tip of her head, smirking as her hands continued to slide over her stomach. 

“I mean . . . if it’s within our _means,_ yes.” 

Waverly slowly nodded, leaning down towards her face. “I see.” She nudged Nicole’s head up with her nose, dropping her lips to her neck. “So. If . . . I dunno, let’s say I wanna go down on you. Is that within our means?”

Nicole raised her brows high, sliding her hand down Waverly’s back with a sharp inhale when she sucked at her pulse point. “It, uh- Yeah. Yeah, I think it is.”

Waverly smiled against her neck, pulling away and sliding down her body. “I figured it was.” She hooked her fingers around the hem of her boxers and the grey cotton basketball shorts she had on, pulling them off of her. “So, uh. I’m gonna do that. Then maybe we can go to Calgary and screw around for the day.”

Nicole nodded, licking her lips as Waverly ran her thumb over her clit before dropping her head and rolling her tongue across it. “Sounds like a great idea, Baby,” she breathed out, leaning her head back against a pillow and pulling Waverly’s hair back with one hand, pushing the other hand behind her own head and relaxing into the mattress. 

Today was looking like it was going to be an _amazing_ day.

**12:32 PM**

“You women confuse me,” Nicole mumbled as she leaned back against the wall of the bathroom they were in.

Waverly flicked her eyes towards her as she touched up her lipstick in the mirror. “Are you not a woman?”

Nicole threw her a look. “I’m just sayin’. Every time we pass a mirror, you’ve gotta check yourself out.” 

Waverly dropped the make-up back in her purse and threw its strap over her shoulder, looking at her reflection again as she pulled up on the French tuck of her white v-neck shirt so it was a baggier in the front. 

Aka, making sure no one would see her hint of a baby bump if they ran into anyone at the mall they were at.

Waverly pulled at the sleeve of her black double rider jacket to straighten it as she slowly walked over to Nicole, raising her brows at Nicole's wide eyes as she stopped in front of her and tightened her fists into the sides of her black and white flannel she had on over a hoodie. “Don’t think I haven’t watched you do the _same_ damn thing, Sheriff.”

“Not as much,” she argued. “‘Cause I don’t care what people think about me.” 

“So . . . you insisted on taking 20 minutes this morning to clean your Vans just ‘cause you wanted to?”

“They were dirty. They’re white.”

“‘Kay, but you could’ve just worn a different pair of shoes.”

“These look good with this outfit,” she shrugged. “Is there a problem with wanting to wear a cohesive outfit?” 

“Why? Would you . . . Would you get _judged_ by other people if you didn’t?”

“I mean, _yeah._ I don’t want people thinking I’m an idiot if I look like I don’t know how to dress myself.” 

Waverly furrowed her brows as she hid a smirk. “I thought you didn’t care what other people thought about you?”

Nicole clenched her jaw, shaking her head at her as she muttered a curse under her breath. “I walked right into that, didn’t I?”

“Oh, you sure did,” Waverly giggled, leaning into her front and cupping the side of her neck when Nicole leaned down into a kiss. 

Nicole’s hands slid around to grip her ass over her black leggings as she tugged at her bottom lip with her teeth. “That wasn’t very nice of you.”

“What? Proving a point?”

Nicole let out a low, annoyed growl as she pulled Waverly impossibly closer. “Shut up.” Waverly chuckled against her lips, hooking a hand around the back of Nicole’s neck as the other pressed against her chest. 

They pulled away from one another a minute or so later when the bathroom door opened, and they walked out sporting dark blushes from the look they got from the lady who had come in. Nicole shoved her hands into her jeans pockets, looking towards Waverly when she yanked the right one out of it so she could hold her hand. 

“Where’re we going now?” she asked as she looked around at all the stores they were walking past. 

“I don’t care. I already got what I wanted.”

Waverly’s eyes rolled back towards her brain. Right after they had first gotten there, Nicole had drug her into a neon signs store and bought four different ones to hang in the garage. 

A Rangers one.

A Toronto Raptors one.

A Bud Light one.

And a Lamborghini one.

Waverly knew she had only gotten the last one because they had taken the Lambo to get there and she wanted whoever helped them bring the signs out there to see it, but it still pissed her off because $600 on _neon signs_ was not what they needed to spend money on right now. 

“Alright, well, I’m not letting you go in anywhere else where you can make dumbass decisions.”

“Aw,” Nicole whined. “Why not? We both just got paid this week.” 

“I don’t care,” she huffed. “Christmas is coming up soon, so we need to start putting a little bit away so we can get stuff for people.”

“Can you get me more signs for Christm-”

_“No.”_

_“Why?”_ she whined. “I really wanted that music note one for behind the DJ stand.”

“Well, I guess you’re just gonna have to-” 

Nicole stopped walking and looked towards Waverly after she had stopped dead in her tracks. “What?” She flicked her eyes towards where Waverly was looking and chuckled a little when she realized it. 

They were standing right in front of a baby store.

“D’you wanna go in there, Honey?” Nicole asked with a soft smile. 

“Should we?” she asked with furrowed brows. 

“I don’t see why not,” Nicole shrugged, giving Waverly’s hand a tug as she walked towards the store. 

“What if we see someone we know?” she questioned as she wrapped more around Nicole’s arm. 

“Then we say we’re looking for stuff for Auggie, I guess. Really, though. If we see someone we know in here, I think _we’re_ the ones that need to be asking _them_ why they’re here.” 

Waverly let out a sigh with a nod. “Fair enough.” She loosened her grip on her arm as she looked around the large store, pulling her over towards where the clothes section was. 

“Ok, we don’t have anywhere to put things right now. You know that, right?” 

“We’ve got a drawer at the bottom of our dresser that’s basically empty. We can put it there.” 

Nicole sighed with a nod. “Alright then.” She grabbed a basket from the rack and handed it over to Waverly, already knowing that she would need it to carry everything she was going to want to buy. 

_“Awwe,_ Nic, look!” 

Nicole smiled softly as she ran her thumb over the soft, grey fabric of the two-piece pajama set with Mickey Mouse faces all over it. There were different sizes of it, but the one Waverly had grabbed was the newborn one. “That’s cute. Get it.” 

Waverly giggled as she went to set it in the basket, but she let out a loud gasp when she saw that a tiny pair of socks were connected to it. “It’s got Mickey socks!” 

“Baby socks are so _tiny,”_ Nicole cooed softly. 

“‘Cause babies are tiny,” Waverly smiled.

“Especially one coming outta you ‘cause you’re tiny. That’s, like, a double tiny baby.” 

She threw her a look but laughed as they moved further into the store. “How big do you think they’ll be when they’re born?” 

“Alice was nine pounds, two ounces, right?” 

“Yeah, something like that.” 

“And she was late . . . So if they don’t come late, I’m thinking, like . . . _late_ six pounds, early seven pounds. Something around there.” 

Waverly nodded in agreement, smiling wide at the matching set with a white onesie that said Happy Camper and grey and teal pants that had hippie vans all over it. She dropped it into the basket, looking up at Nicole. “That’s what I’m thinking.”

Nicole snorted and grabbed the onesie that had _How you doin’?_ across the front of it and dropped it in. “We’re gonna be _those_ moms, aren’t we?”

“Our kid is gonna be _so_ well dressed all the time, trust me.” 

“Like-” Nicole grabbed an army green hoodie onesie and dropped it in the basket. _“So_ well dressed.” 

“Also, like, _very_ obviously being raised by gay moms,” Waverly added as she tossed a rainbow-striped sleeper in it. 

_“Exactly.”_

Waverly wrapped around her arm again as they continued to walk. “We’re gonna have to do _the talk,_ aren’t we?”

“Which talk?”

“The _this is why you don’t have a dad_ talk,” Waverly mumbled. 

Nicole let out a heavy sigh, stopping by a long-sleeved white shirt that said _you are my sunshine_ and had sunflowers on the middle of it and some yellow pants. “I mean, I guess, yeah . . . D’you think that’s gonna affect them?”

Waverly grabbed the set and tossed it in the basket when she saw her contemplating it. “I hope not,” she mumbled. “They’ll have Doc and Dolls and Nedley to lean back on, so they won’t be missing out on much.” 

“I’ve got enough dyke energy to throw at them anyways. They’ll be fine.”

Waverly flicked her eyes up to her with a snort after grabbing a pink Piglet from Winnie the Pooh sleeper and tossing it in the basket. “You keep tellin’ yourself that.”

Nicole chuckled and bumped her with her hip. “They’re in for a sight the first time they walk in on me railing you with the strap.”

Waverly’s mouth popped open and she quickly shook her head as she wacked her arm. “Never say that again. You’re gonna jinx it.”

“Haven’t you come to terms with the fact that at some point, we _will_ get walked in on?”

“I mean, if we’re _careful-”_

“Baby, we fuck multiple times a week, every week. Our sex drives are way too high for kids to slow us down, too. I’m _telling_ you, it’s gonna happen whether we want it too or not.” 

Waverly let out a heavy sigh, smiling as she grabbed something off a hook. It was a white, silky-textured button-up with roses all over it, and it came with little red dress pants. The label said six-nine months. “Haught Pocket’s gonna be around nine months on Valentine's day, right?”

“I think so,” she answered. “That’d be cute for it.” 

“Mhm.” Waverly set it in the basket. “Anyway, I think that if I keep wishing that it _doesn’t_ happen that it won’t, and I’m gonna stick with that.” 

Nicole shook her head at her. “Whatever helps you sleep at night.” 

“It does. It really does.”

“I’m glad, Baby. At least you can have that hope- _oh my God.”_ Nicole grabbed Waverly’s wrist and immediately began to drag Waverly to the side of the store she hoped she wouldn’t see. 

“Nicole,” Waverly said in warning. 

_“Look!”_ Nicole grinned as she grabbed a pack of four of five onesies that all had different Raptors designs on them. “Ain’t that cute?”

“So cute,” Waverly deadpanned, trying to pull her away from the area. “You can get one sports thing, that’s it.” 

“Watch me.”

“Nicole Haught, I _will_ watch. I’ll watch you walk your ass out to the car when I quite literally _kick_ you out of the store.”

She quickly widened her eyes at her and slowly set the onesies in the basket. “One thing it is.” 

Waverly smiled, pressing up on her toes to kiss her cheek. “Good baby.” 

“You’re mean,” she mumbled with a pout. 

Waverly threw her a look. “Don’t look at me like that.” 

Nicole crossed her arms, not letting the look on her face falter. “Then don’t be mean to me.”

Waverly pursed her lips at her for a few moments before rolling her eyes with a sigh and swinging her arm out. _“Fine._ Get what you want.” 

Nicole grinned wide, giggling as she leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “I love you.” She spun around and dashed off before Waverly could even respond, so she shook her head with a sigh, slowly following to try and find where she ran off to. 

After a minute of looking up and down some aisles, she jumped when she felt a finger tap her shoulder. She turned and looked up at Nicole, flicking her eyes down to the two things in her arms that she had slowly handed out to her. She grabbed the first one and expected it to be a sports sleeper of some kind, but her eyes immediately softened. 

The purple sleeper had a lime green outline of Buzz Lightyear on the front, and it said _to infinity and beyond_ in white font inside of him.

Waverly looked up at Nicole with a soft smile. “Where was this?” 

Nicole jutted a thumb over her shoulder. “Back there. There’s a whole Pixar section.”

"Really?" Waverly asked with doe eyes as she gently folded the sleeper and set it in the basket. 

Nicole nodded with a smile, handing her the grey onesie she had also been holding. "There's also a . . . _this_ section." 

Waverly looked down at the front of it with a cocked brow, but she quickly looked up at Nicole when it registered. "Where?" 

There was a koala in a teacup holding a little rainbow flag with the words _E-koala-ty_ above it, so she was in dire need to see what else the store had. 

Nicole grabbed her hand and started leading her in the right direction. "There's not a lot, but . . . there's some stuff." 

They stopped in front of the tiny pride area, and Waverly giggled with a happy clap. "Look!" 

She grabbed a black long-sleeved onesie that said Mom², and Nicole laughed as she set it in their basket. "That's perfect for my teacher baby." 

Waverly grinned again, grabbing almost every single item on the display that had anything to do with either gay shit or two moms. One said _tiny feminist_ across the front, but they both agreed it was still a keeper, too. 

After filling their basket with four more onesies, two bibs, and a little rainbow teether, Nicole was leading Waverly towards the Pixar and Disney section that was close to where they had started when they had gotten there. 

Waverly slowed before they could get there, though, stopping in front of a tiny outfit and pouting her lip. "Nic . . ."

"I love that," she said with a soft smile, pulling it off the hook. "That'd be a cute coming home outfit thingy."

"I was thinking the same thing," she mumbled. 

There was a long-sleeved grey onesie that had _just hatched_ across the front, and it came with pants and a hat with tiny light green and white turtles all over it. 

"Well, that is just _adorable!"_

They both looked towards the older woman with very platinum blonde hair that had moved to stand next to them. Waverly smiled, taking the outfit from Nicole. "Isn't it?"

"Yes!" she agreed. "My son told me I'm getting my first grandbaby the other day, and I saw this when I came in to shop around for them. I thought it was just the _sweetest_ thing." 

"Oh, congratulations!" Waverly smiled. "We're having our first in May, so we're pretty much here doing the same thing." 

The woman flicked her eyes between them with a raised brow. "You're both pregnant?" 

"No!" Nicole said quickly with a laugh as she dropped a hand to Waverly's shoulder. "No, just her." 

Waverly nodded with a little laugh before adding on, "We're a couple." 

The woman gasped in realization. "Oh, you're lesbians!" 

Neither Waverly nor Nicole felt the need to correct her any, so they both nodded with awkward chuckles. "Yeah." 

"My cousin has a lesbian daughter," she said with a grin. "Well, congratulations to you both then."

"Thank you," they both mumbled as Waverly set the outfit in their basket. 

The woman shifted on her feet a bit, and they both noticed the question in her eyes. "So . . . you're pregnant, yes?" she asked as she looked at Waverly. 

"About eight weeks, yeah," she answered. 

She slowly nodded. "Forgive me, but . . . How does that work? Since you're both women?- Unless-" 

She flicked her eyes towards Nicole, and she quickly shook her head. "No, we- uh, we did an at-home insemination." 

"With a _man?"_ she asked with brows to her hairline. 

Waverly shook her head with a laugh. "We ordered a sperm donor's stuff and used it to get me pregnant." 

"So you're having a random man's baby?" 

Waverly pursed her lips, and she felt Nicole's hand give her shoulder and assuring squeeze. "I mean, that's what sperm banks are for kinda. For people who can't get pregnant by themselves." 

"I see," she said with a slow nod as she looked between them again. "But you've never met this man?" 

"Nope," Nicole said with a shrug. "He offered his stuff for people that need it with no intentions on being involved with anything." 

"Did he tell you that?" 

Waverly shook her head. "We never . . . spoke with him at all, but it's their contract or whatever when they give to sperm banks."

The woman nodded in understanding. "I think I'm getting it now, alright . . . Do you at least know _some_ things about this man? I assume it wasn't just random, right?" 

"Yeah, we know his name, what he looks like, his medical history, all that stuff," Nicole answered when Waverly looked back at her to tell her to answer the woman. "We had to since we wanted to choose a guy that kinda has my traits and all that." 

"Ah, right, since it's not actually your baby."

Waverly immediately clenched her jaw, and she grabbed Nicole's hand on her shoulder to gently pull it off when she felt her fingers grip painfully into her skin. Waverly managed to keep a friendly smile on her face despite the pit in her stomach. "It- It is _actually_ her baby. Just not biologically since that's kinda impossible." She looked back at Nicole to see the pain in her eyes she was trying to cover up by keeping her head down a bit. She gave her hand a squeeze, smiling assuringly when she met her eyes. 

"Well, I guess, yeah, but you know what I mean." 

Waverly gave her a tight-lipped smile with a shrug. "I don't really think it matters, though. She's still just as much of a mom as I am." 

The woman nodded, but it looked like she only was because she had felt the tension that was now in the air. "I guess it's just . . . different to think about." 

"With that thinking, parents of adopted children aren't much of their parents either then, no?" Waverly tipped her head in question. "Since it's not biological?" 

The woman laughed with a hint of nervousness. "Well, no, that's different-" 

"Sure, it's _different,_ but it's the same concept. No blood connection, but the parental connection is still very much there."

"I-" She thought for a moment. "I guess you're right, Dear. Yeah." She shifted a bit on her feet. "Well, it was nice talking to you two! Best of luck with the new baby." 

"You, too," Waverly said with a friendly smile, waiting until she was far enough out of their line of sight to turn towards Nicole with sad eyes. "Are you ok, Sweetheart?" 

Nicole met her eyes and nodded with a forced smile. "Yeah. I'm good." She nodded towards the register near them. "Can we, uh- Can we get going?" 

"Yeah," Waverly said a little too quickly. "Yeah, we can." She moved her hand up to gently press against Nicole's back and led her towards the register. 

They got all of their things paid for and made their way out of the mall in silence. Nicole pulled her keys out of her pocket and unlocked the Lambo, not even bothering to walk around and open Waverly's door like she usually did before climbing in the driver's seat. Waverly let out a sad sigh, pulling her door open and settling next to her, closing the door and grabbing Nicole's hand before she could shift out of park. "Hey." 

Nicole met her eyes for a moment before flicking them back towards the road. "What?" 

"Look at me." Waverly grabbed her chin and turned her head towards her, watching Nicole keep her eyes down. _"Really_ look at me." She looked up at her, and Waverly slowly shook her head. "Don't you _ever_ believe a word that came out of that ignorant bitch’s mouth, do you understand me?" 

Nicole shook her head, pulling it out of her grip. "I'm fine." 

"Don't you dare play hardass with me right now. I'm serious. What she said was really shitty, Nic." 

Nicole let out a huffed laugh. “It’s not like it’s not true, though!”

Waverly stared at her with surprised yet saddened eyes and shook her head. "Nicole . . . It's _not_ true. You _know_ it's not true."

"But do I?" 

"Yes," she huffed. "You're just as much their mom as I am!" 

"You're _actually_ their mom, and I'm not even related to them, so you know _that's_ not true." 

_"Stop,"_ Waverly argued. "Stop saying that. It doesn't matter." 

Nicole shook her head as she leaned back in her car seat, biting heavily on the insides of her cheeks to keep her composure. “You don’t think they’re gonna see us differently? You’re gonna fucking birth them, Waverly. I didn’t do _shit.”_

 _“You_ are the only reason they exist,” Waverly huffed. “I didn’t get _myself_ pregnant. _You_ did that. _You_ were working the syringe. Not me. We did this _together._ The only reason you’re not related to them is ‘cause that’s literally fucking _impossible_ unless you actually decided to have them. _Everything else_ about this makes you their mother. _You_ helped with the process of picking out how we were gonna do this, _you_ took money out of your savings to pay for the shipment and stuff, _you_ got me pregnant, _you_ are the one taking care of me and making sure I’m happy through this, and _your_ name is gonna be on their birth certificate. Blood is not family, Nicole. That’s never ever been something we’ve worried about, so why start now?” 

Nicole shook her head again and let out a shaky breath as her bottom lip wobbled. Waverly’s eyes softened, and she grabbed her hand with a squeeze. “I dunno, she just caught me off-guard.” 

“I know, Love. It’s ok.” Waverly shifted her body to drop a hand to her thigh as she kept a hold of Nicole’s hand.

“I just- I’d never thought about it like that,” Nicole said with a sniffle as she wiped at her eyes with her free hand.

“None of it matters, though. You know that.” 

“I know,” she mumbled. “Still . . . This is what I’ve always wanted since, like, _forever,_ and I- I just never thought about some of this stuff before, so it freaked me out a bit.”

Waverly sighed, moving a hand up to cup her cheek and pulling her head towards her so she could press a few kisses to her face. “Everything’s gonna be just fine, I promise.”

Nicole let out a heavy sigh, letting the tension in her body release. “Ok,” she breathed out, wiping her face one last time. 

Waverly smiled, giving her a hand a squeeze. “Are you alright now?”

“I’m good,” she assured. 

“You don’t want me to drive back, do you?”

Nicole shook her head, pushing a hand through her hair as she shifted the Lambo out of park and pulled out of the parking spot they were in. “You’re not driving my car.”

“Why?” Waverly whined. “You never let me!”

“‘Cause you’re a scary driver!” Nicole argued with a laugh. 

“I am _not!”_

“Oh, _yes,_ you are.”

“Baby, _please?”_ Waverly whined as they pulled up to a stoplight. 

“Not happening.”

_“Please?”_

“Nope.”

_“Pretty please-”_

Nicole quickly turned towards her and grabbed her chin, tipping her head in her direction. “Ask me one more time ‘n see what happens.”

Waverly wanted to grin, but she kept it down. “What’re you gonna do?”

“Ask me one more time ‘n see what happens,” Nicole repeated. 

Waverly let her grin pop out this time, and she flashed some doe eyes. “Can I drive the Lambo?” 

Nicole nodded with a heavy sigh. “Alright then. You asked for it.” 

“For what?” Waverly asked, fear slowly pushing onto her face when she saw the giant smirk that was on Nicole’s. 

“I guess you’re gonna have to wait ‘n see, Darlin’.”

So Waverly did wait. She waited the entire car ride back to the garage. 

Well.

Almost the entire car ride.

Nicole turned down the road that was just a very long, straight path towards the garage, and Waverly cocked a brow at the look that was on her face as she moved both hands to the steering wheel and flexed her fingers a bit. “What’re you-”

“You best hold on.”

 _“Nicole-”_ Waverly went to warn her of what she knew she was about to do, but Nicole had already mashed her foot on the gas pedal to send them flying down that road at over 100 miles an hour within only a couple of seconds.

Waverly let out a shriek and pulled her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms tightly around them as the speed continued to climb to nearly 200 miles an hour. _“I’M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!”_

Nicole let out an evil laugh as they continued to fly down the road, slowly allowing them to decrease the speed as she knew she was reaching the driveway for the garage. 

Waverly wasted no time after the car was parked in the garage to shove the door up and roll out of the Lambo, letting out a heavy breath as the coolness of the concrete seeped through her leggings and to her knees. Nicole climbed out the other side, spinning her keys around her finger and whistling as she walked over to the bar and grabbed a beer out of the mini-fridge. She cracked the lid with her teeth and spit it into the trash before plopping down onto the black leather sectional by the TV. 

Waverly slowly stood up after a few seconds, her legs a bit jellified as she slowly walked over and grabbed the blanket off of the back of the couch, throwing it over her shoulder as she headed for the stairs. “Where’re you going?” Nicole asked with a laugh as she flipped through the TV channels. 

“Getting away from you. Also I need a nap after the _trauma_ you just put me through, so you can find _me_ on the futon trying not to throw up everywhere.”

Nicole chuckled and shook her head as she took a pull of her beer. “Don’t say I hadn’t warned ya now.”

“Shut up,” Waverly grumbled, continuing upstairs with a roll of her eyes.

“I love you!” Nicole called up at her. 

_“You better.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well then
> 
> Alright, now hold on before you comment. I've got an announcement.  
> So there's a reason this chapter took so long to get out that isn't just cuz school is kicking my ass....I've been working on a new fic. Sure, there have been times where I've started new shit and then just never gotten back around to it, but this time it is different. I've got almost 8 chapters and 30,000ish words, and I actually have a mapped out storyline for it. My beta's gave me the balls to finally announce it and I just wanted to ask y'all your opinion on it since it's a little different than my usual.  
> Basically it's set present day, but WayHaught's in an all-girls Catholic boarding school, and they're both seniors in high school. Nicole's the top dog basketball player, and Waverly's just Waverly. Let's just say they had both been in the same class for an entire semester before their first interaction after getting pared with one another for their senior project, and Nicole had never even noticed Waverly before. There's gonna be a bunch of hurdles that they're gonna have to jump through, like Nicole dealing with the relationship with her parents and Waverly getting over her fear of people and her own speech impediment plus everything surrounding that. There's also some interesting arcs with the WyNaught relationship and even some fun dashes of Wynsita 😎  
> So yeah.  
> That's all I'm gonna say about it.  
> I really like how it's going, and was just wondering what you guys think, so if you could, can ya tell me two things in the comments? One, if you'd be interested in it, and two, when would you like to see it? Would you like me to start posting uploads now, would you like me to just put out the first chapter so you get a feel for it, or would you want me to just wait until it's done and then start posting that way there will be a consitant upload schedule?  
> Let me know below!
> 
> Anyway thanks for reading! Hope you liked this chapter! The next chapter might, uh, involve some people finding out about Haught Pocket...;)
> 
> Also, yes, in case you are wondering, I have a Pinterest board with 277 pins of just baby clothes for Haught Pocket because I HAVE A PROBLEM


	10. I’ll Bet You an Orgasm Wynonna’s Gonna Cry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waves is at the end of her first trimester and onto the next. Let's see what this one has in store..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FIRST OF ALL, HAPPY NEW YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!
> 
> Yikes y'all, been a hot minute. Sorry about that. With the holidays and all, I was busy mostly doing my procrastination last minute shopping. I've also been taking a break from writing in general because one, I'm currently redoing my room and helping my sister redo her's. Two, me and my fav twink have been editing YAMHP's chaps to make them less cringe to read. And three, idk y'all, it's my winter break. I wanted to make the most of it lmao. I start classes on Tuesday, so wish me luck this semester lmao.  
> Anywho.  
> Those are all my excuses as to why none of my fics have been updating
> 
> This one was a lot of fun. It kinda feels a bit repetitive at some times because of a certain thing that happens that had to happen multiple times (not spoiling what that is, but you'll know) (also I said it at the end of last weeks notes) I tried to personalize it all, though, so hope that's not too annoying.
> 
> That's enough of me for now. See ya on the other side!

**Sunday, November 22nd, 2020 11:06 AM**

Waverly shifted with annoyance as she stared down at her text to Nicole that had gone unread. She had no idea where her wife was, but she knew that she was at her 13-week prenatal appointment about to have a bunch of blood tests done.

AKA, something Nicole should be there for since she didn’t like needles. 

Not much had happened over the past month. Waverly had officially taken off for the rest of the semester after her bed rest. It had been a hard decision, but she knew it had to be done. She would think she was fine for a day, but the next day or so she was definitely  _ not  _ fine. All the back and forth was taking a heavy toll on her mind, and she was having a hard enough time keeping up with her sub plans and grading papers, so she knew that tacking on being at school with a bunch of hormonal teens almost eight hours a day, five days a week would not be good for her mental  _ or  _ physical health.

If everything went smoothly, after winter break, she’d be back in school to finish up the rest of the school year with her students before she popped at the end of May. She was really hoping she would be able to, too, because she truly did miss it. 

As for explaining that to  _ Wynonna _ and  the family, still, all they gave them was that she was sick and wasn’t able to work. Whenever anyone was over, she sported her baggie hoodies or sweaters, shapewear leggings pulled up over her bump that was growing just as fast as her anxiety for always making sure it was hidden was, and usually a pillow or a blanket pulled onto her lap when she was sitting down. She wasn’t even _near_ the point of needing maternity clothes yet, although her tighter shirts didn't fit as well anymore. She had always been small, though, so her bump was noticeable in that sense.

Waverly had no idea how much of the new porch and room was done. She  _ did  _ know that Doc and Dolls seemed to always be at the house, so she assumed that meant that it was going well. 

She  _ also _ knew that there was a giant hole in her bedroom wall for the door that was covered by an ugly ass tarp to keep the cold air out. 

Waverly was about three seconds from a mental breakdown when the door opened and Nicole stepped into the room. Waverly pulled her fingers from being dug into her scalp and sat up straight on the table, crossing her arms with a glare. “Where the  _ hell  _ were you?” 

Nicole flicked rather hard eyes towards her. “I’m here, ain’t I?” 

Waverly tipped her head a bit as she dropped down into the chair by the table rather heavily, and she noticed the dirt and wrinkles on her uniform. “What happened?-” Her eyes widened and she jumped off the table, gently taking her face in her hand and tipping her head up.  _ “Nicole.”  _ She met her eyes with worry when she saw the rather worrisome cut on her neck that went from below her jaw about an inch to the left towards the middle of her neck. 

“I’m fine, Waverly.” 

“Tell me what happened,” she huffed, moving to grab a tissue off the desk and squirting some hand sanitizer on it, walking back over and grabbing her face again so she could clean it. 

“It was a fucking Rev-”

The door opened, and Dr. Molina took about two steps into the room before stopping dead in her tracks and staring at them with wide eyes. 

“A code red,” Nicole finished in a mutter with a slight hiss, coaxing her hand away. “That’s good, Babe.” 

Waverly sighed, looking towards the doctor with a tired smile. “Can you give us a minute, please?”

“Looks like you need one, yeah.” She pulled the door back open and stepped out. “I’ll be in the front, ok?”

“Thank you,” they both mumbled with smiles as she shut the door. 

Waverly waited a moment before letting fear creep onto her face as she met her eyes. “Well, did you  _ handle  _ it?”

“Wynonna and Dolls have it covered for now.”

“She didn’t down it?” Waverly asked with wide eyes. 

“Not yet. We’re still working on it.” 

She threw her arms out with her brows raised high. “Wh- Nicole, they probably need your _help!”_

“Doc is heading there to help. It’s alright, Wave.” Nicole stood up and slid her hands down her arms. “And  _ I’m  _ alright.”

A small whine left Waverly’s throat as she cupped the side of her neck to look at the cut again. “What, did it have a fucking  _ knife  _ to your throat?”

“Yeah, but-”

_ “Yeah?!  _ What d’you mean  _ yeah?!”  _

“Waverly, it’s  _ fine.”  _ Nicole tried to catch her arm when she turned away from her with both hands on her hips and paced to the other side of the room. “Baby, c’mon. You know how they are. They’re sick assholes. This one was trying to steal crosses from the Christmas section at the store in town, so the owners called the cops.”

Waverly spun around. “How’s that lead to a Revenant with a  _ knife  _ to my wife’s throat?! Huh?!”

“He got agitated when Wynonna  _ waltzed  _ right in. She spooked him and he pulled a knife on me.”

Waverly let out a choked breath, shaking her head again as she started pacing the room again. "Oh my God." 

"Baby-" 

Waverly turned towards her, moving right in front of her and tightening her fists into the front of her dirty uniform.  _ "Why _ are we bringing a child into a world with  _ literal demons?"  _

Nicole shook her head at her, grabbing her shoulders. "Stop-" 

_ "Let alone  _ one that the  _ demons  _ are gonna wanna  _ massacre!"  _ Tears started rolling down Waverly's cheeks, but Nicole was trying to catch each one and wipe it with her thumbs. "They don't know I'm not an Earp! They- They're gonna think it's part-Earp and- and-"

Nicole pulled her into her arms, pressing her hand against the back of her head. "Shhhh . . . It's ok, Baby. Everything's gonna be fine." Nicole squeezed her tighter. "Nothing's gonna happen to Haught Pocket, I promise." 

"You don't  _ know  _ that!-" 

"Not  _ one  _ of the Revs left has tried to come for Alice. All of the ones left  _ obviously  _ don't want anything to do with the Heir, so they're not gonna try and mess with Wynonna or us or neither of our kids." Nicole cupped her face and made her look at her. "I- I can't say that it's 100% not gonna happen, but I  _ can  _ tell you that I have my doubts. Any second now, we're gonna be down to nine.  _ Nine  _ Revenants. That's it. We have more manpower than all of them combined any day." 

Waverly sniffled, letting her forehead fall to rest on her shoulder. "You're right." 

Nicole hugged both arms around her. "I know it's scary, Honey, but this is the fucked up world we live in. There ain't nothin' we can do about it."

"I know," Waverly mumbled, sliding her hands up to her face and tipping her head up again, looking at the cut on her neck once more. "Are you sure you're gonna be ok?" 

"It's nothing. I doubt it'll even scar." 

Waverly let her eyes close when Nicole cupped her jaw and pressed a kiss to her cheek, gripping her collar a bit when her mouth moved to her lips. "I love you," Waverly mumbled, her eyes still closed even after they had both pulled away.

Nicole traced her jaw with her thumb. "I love you, too." She turned away from her and grabbed a few tissues, handing them to her and lifting her to sit on the table in the exam room. "D'you want me to get Dr. Molina or do you need a second?"

Waverly shook her head as she wiped her eyes, trying not to take her makeup off with it. "You can get her." 

Nicole turned out of the room and did so, returning with the doctor a few moments later. Dr. Molina gave Waverly a smile, setting her laptop onto the desk and dropping down onto the stool. “I assume everything’s all good now, yeah?” 

Nicole hopped up on the table next to Waverly, and they both looked towards one another and nodded as Nicole slid her hand across her thigh with a squeeze. “Yeah,” she confirmed. “We’re good.” 

“Great. So. Today, we’re doing your first-trimester combined screening, right?”

“A nurse already took my blood, so yeah. All that fun stuff,” Waverly answered. 

Dr. Molina nodded, typing something into her computer. “Great, ok. Now I’ve just got some questions for ya. Sound good?”

Waverly nodded, and Dr. Molina asked her some general wellness questions and also some questions about her HG and how things were going with that. It only took about 10 minutes, and then they discussed some more things about the tests being done on her bloodwork. The doctor did a quick physical examination before sending them on their merry way, telling them her test results would be back in about a week. 

Oh.

And also that since she was officially through her first-trimester, they had the all-clear to start telling people about it now. 

Waverly followed Nicole back to the Tahoe, grinning when she lifted her up and sat her on the hood of the car. “Hi,” she giggled, cupping her cheeks with a smile. 

“Mrs. Haught,” Nicole drawled, pulling her hips flush against her stomach. “I do believe there is a discussion to be had.”

“Oh, is there now?” Waverly asked with a tip of her head, shielding a grin as she pushed her fingers through her hair. 

“Mhm, there is.” One of Nicole’s hands pulled up the tuck on Waverly’s shirt and gently slid under it to rest on her stomach. She looked down at it with a smile. “We’ve gots figure out how we’re gonna tell people ‘bout you, Haught Pocket.”

Waverly’s fingers toyed at different hems and folds of Nicole’s uniform shirt. “Well . . . I was thinking we can maybe tell the main family- Wynonna, Gus, Alice, Doc, Julian, all them- at Gus’ surprise party on the 10th?” 

Nicole raised her brows with a nod. “That could work. How, though?” 

She shrugged. “We’ll figure it out.”

“What about everyone else?” Nicole asked. 

Waverly pulled her phone out of her pocket. “I already bought how we’re telling Nedley and Chrissy.” She turned her phone to face her, and Nicole grinned wide when she tipped it up towards her. 

“Oh, hell yeah. That’s awesome.”

Waverly grinned, pushing her phone into Nicole’s front pocket so she didn’t have to hold it. “I don’t really wanna wait until Christmas to tell people. ‘Cause, yeah, that’d be awesome, but, like, Haught Pocket’s growing pretty fast and I don’t wanna chance someone finding out by noticing, ya know? I mean, I’ll be, what, almost 18 weeks by then?”

Nicole nodded, smirking a little as her thumb traced patterns into the skin of her stomach. “Plus, if we tell them early, free baby stuff for Christmas.”

Waverly smiled wide with a nod. “That, too.”

Nicole chuckled, leaning into a kiss. “We’re so bad.”

Waverly looped her arms around her neck with a shake of her head. “Nah, we’re just smart.”

Nicole slipped her hands to her hips, leaning into another kiss. “Can we further discuss this matter over lunch?” Waverly let out a quiet groan, and Nicole brows saddened. “No lunch today, hm?”

She shrugged. “You got me all worked up and now I don’t feel good. Not my fault.”

Nicole threw her a look with a tipped head. “You ate breakfast, though, right?”

“Yeah.” 

“Alright, good,” she mumbled. “Just take it easy for the rest of the day, ok?”

“I will,” she promised, pulling her fingers through her hair again. “Now what, you’re gonna leave me so you can go eat?”

“No,” Nicole said with a pout. “I’ma stay with my baby since she didn’t get to hold my hand when she got her blood drawn and I feel bad.”

“Awe,” Waverly cooed, pulling her closer. “That’s sweet.” 

Nicole hummed against her lips when she leaned into a kiss. "D'you want me to go park somewhere and put the back seats down so we can cuddle until my break’s over?”

Waverly’s heart eyes flashed as a soft smile pushed onto her face. “Will you?”

“Of course, Honey. C’mon.” Nicole helped her off the hood and opened the passenger’s door for her. Nicole climbed in her side and pulled away from the doctor’s office parking lot. There was a park that looked pretty much empty a few blocks away, so Nicole turned into its parking lot and found an empty spot, turning up the radio a little and climbing out so she could put the back seats down. 

Waverly giggled and climbed out, jumping into the back through the trunk once she moved her things back there out of the way, and Nicole climbed in and pulled the door closed. She grabbed the blanket that had been in the very back and stretched it out, dropping onto her back and smiling as Waverly crawled on top of her. 

Waverly pressed a bunch of kisses to her face before settling with her head on her chest. She let out a content hum as Nicole pulled the blanket over them. “Thank you, Sweetie Pie,” she mumbled. 

Nicole smiled, rubbing her hand up and down her back as she pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You’re welcome.” 

**Thursday, December 10th, 2020 4:16 PM**

“Can you see it?”

Nicole looked up from the edge of her bed where she was pulling her brown combat boots on, flicking her eyes down to Waverly’s stomach. She had a loose black sweater with the front tucked into white jeans. “Nah, you’re good.” 

“M’kay.” Waverly slipped out of the room, and Nicole finished pulling her boots on, standing and pushing some things into the pockets of her ripped black jeans before grabbing her brown jacket off the bed and pulling it on. 

She walked towards the bathroom and leaned against the doorframe, watching as Waverly rolled her hair around a curling iron. “Are you ready for today?” 

“Nope,” she said with a pop, letting the hair go and pulling her fingers through the curl it made before looking towards Nicole. “Are you?”

She quickly shook her head. “Not at all.” 

Waverly laughed a little with a shake of her head. “That’s great then. We’re both shitting ourselves over this.” 

Nicole sighed, moving beside her to look in the mirror and pushing her hands through her hair a few times. “I’ll bet you an orgasm Wynonna’s gonna cry.”

“I’ll bet you two she’s gonna pass out.”

“I’ll throw in a back massage if Doc cries, too.”

Waverly giggled, pulling her fingers through another curl and meeting her eyes in the mirror. “Deal.”

Nicole chuckled, pressing a kiss to her temple. “I’m gonna go warm the car up.” 

“Is that your way of telling me to hurry up?”

“Sure is,” Nicole confirmed, quickly getting out of the room with a laugh before she could get smacked.

**4:47 PM**

Nicole parked the jeep behind the Homestead and climbed out, helping Waverly out and handing her the gift bag to carry in. They walked around the house and in the front, and Nicole hoisted Alice up onto her hip when she met them at the door. “Hey, you!” She pressed a kiss to the side of her head, following Waverly into the kitchen where Julian was milling around the kitchen, getting the remainder of the food ready. “You ready for Gus’ surprise party?”

“Yeah!” Alice squealed, wiggling around until Nicole handed her over to Waverly. “Hi.”

“Hello,” Waverly laughed as she clung onto her with her arms around her neck, leaning back against the table and smiling when Julian dropped a kiss to her forehead as he passed her. 

“Hi, Honey.”

“Hey,” she sighed. “You need any help?”

“Nope, you relax.” He wiped his hands on his jeans before grabbing a potholder. “I made that sister of yours give me a hand when I got here.”

“Oh, God, did she ruin everything?” Nicole asked with faux fear in her eyes.

Wynonna punched her arm when she walked into the kitchen.  _ “Rude.”  _

Nicole put her hands up as she grabbed a beer from the fridge. “Hey, you’ve literally set the oven on fire making  _ store-bought pizza,  _ don’t blame me for being scared to eat anything you’ve touched.”

“It was  _ one time!  _ Let it go!” 

Waverly threw her a look. “You’ve set things on fire too many times to count, don’t play dumb.” 

Wynonna rolled her eyes, leaning back on the counter and taking a sip of the whiskey she grabbed. “Haven’t burned the house down.”

_ “Yet,” _ Waverly and Nicole coughed at the same time, looking towards one another with snorts. 

_ “Har har,”  _ Wynonna grumbled, setting the whiskey down and taking Alice from Waverly’s arms. “Give me my child.” 

“Mama!” Alice whined, pushing at her face. “I always gotta see you!”

“Yeah, and that’s a  _ blessing,”  _ she argued, setting her on the floor. “Go grab your present for Gus from your room and bring it down here.” Alice sighed, turning and running up the stairs to do so.

“When’re they getting here?” Waverly asked, knowing Michelle was driving Gus over with some sort of ruse for the matter. 

“Around five,” Wynonna answered. “Mama’s gonna text me when they pull in the driveway.”

“Gotcha,” Waverly mumbled, furrowing her brow at Wynonna as she moved to stand in front of her. “What?”

“How are you?” she asked softly.

“Fine, why?”

_ “Well, I dunno, maybe ‘cause-”  _

“Mama, where’s it go?”

Wynonna looked down at Alice flapping around the picture she had drawn for Gus at her feet. She took it and looked at it before handing it back to her. “Just . . . Set it by Aunt Wavey and Auntie Cole’s stuff over there.” She pointed to the table in the living room.

“M’kay.” Alice turned and trotted off to do so, and Wynonna looked back to Waverly with the goal of finishing what she had been saying before, but Waverly cut her off. 

“Wy, seriously. Stop stressing about this. I’m fine, I promise.” 

“You know you’re a bad liar, right?” she asked in a deadpan with a tip of her head. 

Waverly pursed her lips, flicking her eyes towards Nicole to ask for some assistance in dealing with her persistent sister. Nicole raised her brows. “Earp, where’s Doc?”

Wynonna looked towards her. “He’s in the barn.”

“Why?” 

She shrugged. “I guess he’s putting finishing touches on what he made her for her birthday.”

“What’d he ma-”

The door came open, and they all looked towards Doc as he quickly made his way into the house. “I’ve completed the birdhouse just in time.”

Wynonna cocked a brow. “What d’you mean just in time?-” She looked down at her phone when it buzzed, widening her eyes. “Shit, ok, they’re here. Ali, c’mere.” 

“I saw ‘em pull into the driveway right when I opened the door to come inside,” Doc said as he set the fancy wood birdhouse down on the table next to the other presents. Wynonna tossed out party horns to all of them, and Nicole lifted up Alice and handed her one, whispering to her not to blow it until the door opened. 

Alice listened, thankfully, using all of the air in her little lungs to blow into the horn when the door opened, sending both Gus and Michelle jumping seven feet in the air with the volume of all of them sounding off at once.

“Jesus!” Gus gasped, but a smile pushed onto her face when she saw all of her family staring back at her. “Now what’s all this about?” 

Wynonna blew a few more noises through her horn. “It’s party time!” 

Waverly giggled, walking over to her and grabbing her wrists to drag her into the house. “Happy birthday.” 

Gus smiled wide, hugging the side of her head and pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Thank you, Dear.” 

Nicole tapped Gus’ arm with a beer bottle as she passed her, handing it to her with a smile. “60, huh?” 

Gus let out a groan, twisting the top off and tapping her bottle against Nicole’s. “Don’t get old, Kid.” 

She laughed into her bottle when she took a pull from it. “Trust me, I’m trying.” 

Wynonna poked her elbow into Gus’ side a few times, getting her arm smacked away. “Is this better than Golden Corral for dinner?” 

“Depends if you had anythin’ to do with that cookin’. Julian can cook a mean meal, but I’m not so sure about you.” 

“Hey!” she whined. “He said I was a  _ great  _ helper,  _ for your information.”  _

“Did he happen to say that before or after ya left the utensil in the casserole dish?” Doc asked with a smirk that didn’t falter even after he was shot daggers.

Wynonna let out a sad huff, crossing her arms and trudging into the living room. “You people are mean.” 

Dinner was quickly ready to be eaten, and they all gathered around and dug in. Nicole knew that Waverly hadn’t eaten a whole lot, but it was better than nothing, and she gave her knee a squeeze and met her eyes with a soft smile when she saw her sit back from her plate. 

Everyone finished up with stuffed faces, and Nicole forced Wynonna to stay in the kitchen with her to help clean up a bit since she had been being difficult all evening. The rest of the family was just wandering around, chatting and laughing with one another while they did that, but Nicole had met Waverly’s slowly growing nervous eyes more than once. 

Nicole let the sink water out and grabbed a towel for her hands, rolling her eyes at Wynonna when she let out a  _ finally  _ and grabbed her whiskey bottle to sip on after evacuating the kitchen. Nicole leaned back against the counter, smiling at Waverly when she walked in and grabbed a water out of the fridge. “You doin’ ok?” she asked softly, letting her hands fall to her hips when she moved to stand in front of her. 

“I’m ok,” she mumbled. “Just . . . nervous and excited, all in one big bubble of emotions.”

Nicole smiled, leaning back against the counter all the way and pulling Waverly closer as she slipped her hand to her jaw to coax her into a kiss. Waverly moved her hands to her chest, sliding them up and gripping around her collar. 

“Chill your dicks, Homos, it’s cake time.” Wynonna made her way into the kitchen with the rest of the family following, and they pulled away from each other with rolls of their eyes. They made quick eye contact before moving towards the table with smiles. 

“You’re not cutting it, Nonna,” Waverly grumbled, grabbing the knife from her hand. “You took half the cake for yourself one year when we let you.” 

She let out a groan of annoyance, but Waverly ignored it as she poked some candles into the cake and lit them with the lighter Doc had handed her. Michelle pulled Gus to stand closer to the cake, and they all started up happy birthday for her. She blew out her candles, and everyone swarmed closer to the table to get the cake Waverly was about to cut. 

“Ok, wait.” She looked up and around the room. “How many people are here? Nine?” 

Everyone looked around, and a few brows started to raise. “Eight, Darlin’,” Doc corrected with a chuckle.

Nicole shook her head, dotting her eyes around. “I’m countin’ nine, too.” 

“There’s eight!” Wynonna argued. “You two must share the same fucked up brain cell.” 

“There’s nine!” Nicole shouted back. “Look!-” Nicole started walking around the table, touching the tops of everyone’s head as she counted off, starting with Gus next to Waverly. “One, two, three, four, five, six-” She stopped back where she had been before, pointing to herself, “seven,-” She met Waverly’s eyes as she dropped her hand to the top of her head, seeing the smirk on her lips. “eight-” Nicole kept her eyes on Waverly as she let her hand fall to rest on her stomach, “nine.”

A beat of silence fell over the room, but Wynonna was the first to react.  _ “What?!”  _

Gus grabbed Waverly’s shoulders and jerked her around to face her with a shake of her head. “No.”

She nodded with a laugh, pulling the bottom of her sweater up. “Yeah.” Gus’ eyes popped out of her head when she saw the bump, but she quickly pulled her into a crushing hug, rocking her from side to side. 

Wynonna was still staring at her sister with wide eyes, and Nicole looked towards her, smirking wide with a wiggle of her brows. Wynonna looked at her and her jaw stuttered for a few seconds before actual words came out. “You’re lying.”

Nicole pressed both hands against the table and leaned forward a bit. “Earp, your sister is 15 weeks pregnant. I’m not lying.”

_ “15 weeks?!”  _ Wynonna, Gus,  _ and  _ Julian asked at the same time, and Nicole nodded with a smile. 

Wynonna pushed through some people, pulling Gus from being attached to Waverly and grabbing her shoulders as she stared at her with wide eyes. She dropped her hand and grabbed her sweater, pulling it up and widening her eyes down at her bump as she poked it. “There’s a tiny human in there?” she asked softly.

“Google says they're the size of an apple, so yes,” Waverly confirmed. “That’s what being pregnant means.” 

Wynonna let out a whine as her hands flailed around for a moment. “Babygirl . . .” She quickly wrapped her in a suffocating hug, and Waverly felt her full-on sobbing into her shoulder. 

Alice pulled at Nicole’s hand with furrowed brows, and she hoisted her up with a smile. “What’s wrong with Mama?” she asked, pointing to the breakdown Wynonna was having. 

Nicole chuckled, meeting her eyes with raised brows. “She’s happy ‘cause there's a baby in Aunt Wavey.” 

Alice widened her eyes. “She’s got a baby in her?"

“Yep,” Nicole confirmed with a nod.

"Why?" Alice let out a whine. "Cole, you gotta get the baby out."

Nicole shook her head, leaning back against the wall. "She's still growing the baby, just like your mama grew you."

Alice's brows furrowed, but she was slowly piecing it together. "So she's gonna be a mama now?"

Nicole nodded. "She is."

"And you're gonna be like Daddy?" 

Nicole chuckled a little. "Yeah, pretty much. Ain't that cool?"

"Yeah!" Alice said with a giggle.

“You’re gonna have a little cousin to play with next summer.”

Alice gasped with a clap. “Yay!” She stopped suddenly and narrowed her eyes. “Is it a _boy_ or a _girl?”_

Nicole shrugged. “We don’t know yet.” 

“Why not?”

“‘Cause we haven’t seen the baby in Aunt Wavey in a while. It was too small to be able to tell then.”

Alice let out a little huff. “Well, it should be a girl. Boys are stinky like Daddy.” 

Nicole laughed, looking towards Doc, who was standing next to Michelle with his hat to his chest and a small pout on his lips. “You and Aunt Wavey are in the same boat then. She thinks it’s gonna be a girl.” She set Alice on the floor. “Go make sure your daddy’s not gonna start having a breakdown like your mama.” Alice turned away to do so, and Nicole walked over to Waverly and Wynonna, detaching Wynonna from her wife since she was still squeezing her to death. “Damn, Dude. Tryna kill my kid before they’re even born?”

Waverly whacked her arm, but turned and looked up at Julian when he grabbed her shoulder. She smiled softly at the paled look on his beaming face. “Are you ready to be a grandpa?” She was quickly pulled into a much more gentle hug by him than the one she got from Wynonna. 

Nicole raised her brows at Wynonna, and she smacked at her arms. “You’re gonna be a daddy, Haughty.”

“Oh my  _ God,”  _ Nicole groaned, but she was pulled into a tight hug that knocked the air out of her lungs. 

“You knocked up my sister and didn’t tell me, so I’m pissed at you, but also you  _ knocked up my sister!”  _ She pulled back and cupped Nicole’s face with a pouted lip. “Thank you, Haught Stuff.” 

“I did it just for you,” she deadpanned, giving her shoulder a pat as a smile pushed onto her face.

“Who knew?” Wynonna asked. “Just you guys?” 

Nicole shook her head, looking back at Michelle and seeing Waverly hugging Doc out of the corner of her eye. “Your mother can keep a secret, unlike her daughters.”

Wynonna narrowed her eyes at Michelle. “And you  _ didn’t  _ tell me?!” 

She shrugged. “Wasn’t my story to tell.” 

Wynonna rolled her eyes, but she quickly moved out of the way when he saw Gus coming for Nicole at full speed. Nicole stumbled back when she crushed her in a hug, letting out a breath when she caught her balance. 

“I’m so happy for you two,” she said into her shoulder. 

Nicole rubbed her hand up and down her back. “Was this a good birthday present?” 

Gus pulled back and looked up at her with tears in her eyes. “This was the  _ best  _ birthday present I’ve ever gotten.”

**Friday, December 11th, 2020 8:49 AM**

Nicole climbed back into Dolls’ SUV and tossed the bag of food onto his lap. She handed him the coffee he had ordered and hitched her right leg up to her chest as she took a drink of her own. 

“Get your foot off my damn seat,” he grumbled, smacking her knee. 

She let her leg drop, rolling her eyes with a huff. “Gimme my breakfast.”

He tossed two breakfast sandwiches and a hashbrown at her, and she sunk back in the seat as she unwrapped one of the sandwiches and took a bite off it. Dolls shook his head at the goofy grin on her face. “Is there a reason that we’re here?” 

Nicole looked towards him with a shake of her head. “I just figured you’d want some breakfast this morning.”

“I always want breakfast, especially if I’m not paying.” He took a drink of his coffee, cocking a brow and looking at the label on it. He let out a snort with a shake of his head, rubbing his thumb over the  _ Uncle X  _ written on it. “Funny.” 

Nicole smirked a little. “Are ya excited to have two little rugrats callin’ you that pretty soon?” 

Dolls looked towards her with a hitched brow. “What?”

Nicole sipped on her frappe. “Are you?”

He blinked at her for a few seconds before sighing. "At least I know it's not mine this time." 

She let out a huff with a laugh, realizing he thought Wynonna was pregnant again. "My wife  _ better not  _ be havin' your kid." 

His eyes widened at her before softening. "Waverly's pregnant?" 

"Yeah," she answered with a laugh. 

"Holy shit, Haught!" He pulled her into a one-armed hug over the console. "Congrats!" 

"Thanks," she said with a smile, giving his shoulder a squeeze before pulling back. 

"How far along is she?" 

"She was 15 weeks yesterday. We told Wynonna and everybody last night." 

"Wow," he breathed out. "So that's why she's been all sick, huh?" 

Nicole nodded as she shoved half of her breakfast sandwich down her throat. "She's got some fucked up condition 'cause all the hormones 'n shit, so she can't keep things down. She's doing better now, though." 

Dolls nodded, shifting the car out of park and backing out of the parking space he was in. "At least she's doing better." 

“Yeah,” Nicole agreed. “Things were really fucked up for a while. She’s . . . She’s really the strongest person I know, though. I think it’s all that meditation and shit that she does.”

“Women that do all that pregnant shit?” Dolls shook his head with a little laugh. “They’re all some badasses.”

Nicole sat back in her seat with a breathy laugh. “Amen to that.” 

They talked about mostly baby stuff and all of the things they wanted to put that poor child through as it grew up. Dolls parked in front of the station and Nicole stuffed the wrapper of her last sandwich into the bag, balling it up to throw away as she grabbed her almost-empty coffee cup and climbed out of the car. 

“Have you told all your minions yet?” Dolls asked as they made their way towards the door. 

She shook her head. “Nah, I planned to today. One of them’s gotta be temporary sheriff when I’m on leave, so I need to start seeing who’s fit for the job.”

_ “Pearson,”  _ Dolls said through a cough.

She smacked his arm. “Ok, yeah, it’s gonna be him, but if I find a way I can make them all work their asses off for the next couple of months, I’m gonna do it.”

“Fair enough.” Dolls pulled the door to the station open, holding it for her before following. 

And since he was behind her, Nicole didn’t see the wicked smirk on his face. 

_ “Aye!”  _ he shouted, loud enough to make both her _ and  _ all of the deputies wandering around in the pit to spring 10 feet in the air. Nicole looked back at him with wide, annoyed eyes in question. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her a bit with a grin. “The Haughts are havin’ a baby!” 

Nicole laughed with a roll of her eyes, feeling her cheeks go bright red the second she saw all the eyes in the room snap towards her. “I guess that’s one way to do it,” she mumbled with a chuckle as she looked up at him.

He grinned and clapped her shoulder before heading towards the BBD office. “You’re welcome.” 

“You’re  _ pregnant?”  _ one of her deputies asked with wide eyes. 

_ “Fuck  _ no,” she scoffed. “Do I look pregnant to you?” 

“No,” he mumbled. 

“Good answer,” she said with a little smirk. “Really, though.  _ Waverly’s  _ pregnant and due in May,  _ so  _ that means I’m gonna be out for a bit next summer. I haven’t made a decision who’s gonna take the reigns until I come back, so I guess that means y’all best up your games. I’ll be watching over all of you closely to see who I think will be best suited for the job ‘cause I am  _ not  _ gonna be holding your hand through shit with a newborn at home. Are we clear?” 

“Yes, Ma’am,” they all answered.

“Great. Any questions?”

“Can you name the kid after me?” Lonnie asked.

She let out a sigh, tipping her head in contemplation. “Ya know, Shithead Haught  _ does  _ have a nice ring to it.” His lips pursed as the room erupted into laughter and teases, and she let out a snort. They all calmed down after a few seconds, and Nicole cleared her throat to catch all of their attention. “One more thing. If my wife’s here . . . do yourselves a favor and  _ stay away  _ from her. That woman’s dangerous.” 

Laughter filled the room again, but it was all cut off sharply when they heard a loud throat-clearing come from near the entrance to the station. 

Nicole’s face went whiter than the snow on the ground outside, and she turned around with wide eyes. Waverly blinked at her with her arms crossed, and Nicole swallowed hard as she heard all of the boots running for cover behind her. Waverly pointed towards her office, flicking her eyes towards it.  _ “Go.” _

Nicole’s tail would be in between her legs if she had one as she walked into the office and shut the door after Waverly stalked in behind her. She looked towards Waverly’s back as she stopped but stayed facing away from her. Nicole swallowed hard. “Baby, why are you even  _ here  _ this early?”

“Your shirt’s name tag was on the floor in our room and I  _ stepped  _ on it.”

Nicole absently touched the spot where the pin should have been, realizing it wasn’t there. She shook her head, letting out a breath. “Ok, look, when you came in, I was just making a-”

Waverly whipped around to face her. “A joke?” she finished for her. “You were making a _ joke, _ huh?”

“Yeah,” she mumbled. “I’m sorry.” 

Waverly slowly walked towards her. “You call that a  _ joke?”  _

“Not a funny one,” Nicole said with a quick shake of her head. “I shouldn’t have said-”

Waverly shot her hand out and grabbed her tie, pulling her face down to be even with her own. “Sweetheart, I’m not mad you told them to be afraid of me. I’m mad you’re calling it a joke. They should  _ absolutely  _ be afraid of me.”

Nicole’s eyes flicked down to her lips for a moment before she met her eyes again with a small grin. “You know I love it when you’re scary.” 

Waverly tipped her head, raising her brows as she twisted her tie around her hand and yanked her closer. “Good thing I’m not done then.”

Nicole’s face fell, and she swallowed again. “What?” 

“Don’t you  _ ever  _ talk about me behind my back like that again. You’re already sleeping on the couch tonight, but  _ next  _ time?”

“Death?” Nicole asked with a knowing tip of her head. 

_ “Worse.” _

“What’s worse than  _ death?”  _

“Me putting  _ all  _ your baseball cards through my paper shredder and making you watch.” 

Nicole’s eyes shot straight from her head. “You would  _ never.”  _

_ “Watch me.” _

“I’d rather not,” she mumbled.

“Then  _ don’t  _ be a dumbass, got it?” 

“Yes, Ma’am,” Nicole muttered with a sly smirk, waiting until Waverly rolled her eyes boredly to loop an arm around her waist as she forced her lips onto hers. Waverly’s hand slid up to grip the front of her collar and she sank her teeth into her bottom lip as Nicole walked them back towards the couch in the corner of the room. Nicole let out a growl, falling down on top of her and dropping her hand to the front of her pants as Waverly’s fingers worked at the knot on her tie. 

“You’re still sleeping on the couch whether you fuck me into this one or not.” 

Nicole chuckled against her lips, quickly slipping her hand under her underwear. “Wouldn’t have it any other way.” 

**Saturday, December 12th, 2020 9:04 AM**

“How’s it feel in the doghouse?” Waverly asked, swinging her legs from on top of the island as she continued to shovel Lucky Charms into her mouth.

Nicole threw her a look as she rubbed at the knot in her neck the couch gave her.  _ “Amazing.” _

“Mhm.”

“Mhm.” Nicole sipped on her coffee. “They’re gonna be here soon, ya know? You gonna get ready?” 

“I do what I want,” Waverly shrugged. 

Nicole blinked at her for a few seconds before letting out a heavy sigh and setting her mug down. “Alright.” She walked over to Waverly and pulled her bowl from her hand. “Queen Waverly was cute for, like, a day.” Nicole lifted Waverly off the island and set her on her feet, ignoring the huff she let out. “Go get ready, for real.”

_ “Excuse me-”  _

“You’re excused.” Nicole pointed towards their room with a pointed look. “Now go, please. The two gay uncles of our child are gonna be here in less than an hour.” 

Waverly glared up at her with a pout. “You’re no fun.”

“Go,” Nicole laughed, turning her towards the hallway with a gentle push. 

Waverly let out a groan, slumping off their room to get dressed.  _ “Fine.”  _

Nicole shook her head with a chuckle, reaching down and lifting Houdini off the floor before grabbing her coffee mug and walking over to the recliner in the living room. She set him on her lap and flicked the TV on, popping the feet out on the recliner and relaxing back in the chair. 

Waverly returned a little bit later, sliding into the empty space on the recliner and dropping her head to her chest and her leg over her hips since the dog was laying across her lower thighs. Nicole hummed, pressing a kiss to her forehead and sliding her hand down her back that was covered with one of her own flannels that was even oversized on her. “Thank you, Honey.” 

“You don’t let me have  _ no  _ fun,” she grumbled as she ran her thumb up and down her jaw. 

“I let you have fun and boss me around  _ all  _ day yesterday,” Nicole argued. “Don’t give me that.” Waverly let out a huff of disapproval as she snuggled more into her chest, and Nicole shook her head with a smile as she let her eyes focus back on the TV. 

After a little while longer, they both looked up at the knock on the door. Houdini shot straight up and went to leap off the recliner to go yap at the door, but Waverly grabbed him before he could.  _ “Nope.”  _ She rolled off of Nicole and stood up, quickly taking him to the bedroom as Nicole got up to get the door. 

“Nicky!” Jeremy grinned when she pulled it open, and she rolled her eyes and waved both him and Robin in. 

“Hey, Jer,” she sighed. 

“Where’s the wife?” Robin asked. 

“Making sure my feisty Dachshund doesn’t try and eat you both,” she said with a little laugh. 

“Oh, nah,” Robin said with a shake of his head. “The Great Houdini loves us.” 

“He needs to calm down before you go at him with scissors anyway,” Nicole sighed, looking up with a smile as Waverly eased herself out of their room and shut the door behind herself. 

“Hi, guys,” she said with a wide smile. 

“Hey, Waves,” they both greeted. 

Nicole led them further into the house, plopping herself back on the recliner. “So. We discussed it, and Waves still says  _ no  _ to cutting CJ into a lion.”

_ “Wave,”  _ Robin whined. “Why?”

_ “Because!”  _ she huffed. “She needs her fur!” 

“I’m not gonna  _ buzz  _ her. I’ll just cut it down a little bit.”

She shook her head sharply. “Nope. Not happening.”

“Why d’you always gotta ruin my fun?” Nicole grumbled. 

“Because my life mission is to make you miserable,” Waverly said with a tight-lipped smile as she pinched her cheek. She looked back towards Robin. “Seriously, though. If we come home and my fur baby is no longer a house cat, I’m buzzing  _ all  _ of your heads.”

“Why mine?!” Nicole asked with wide eyes.

“Because I know that means you must have  _ bribed  _ them,” she said with a tip of her head, nodding with a hum when Nicole pursed her lips. 

Jeremy put his hands up. “Ok, we promise. Robin won’t turn CJ into a lion.” 

_ “Thank you,”  _ she breathed out. 

“Speaking of . . .” Robin looked around. “Where are the cats?”

“They were in our room when I took Dini in there,” Waverly shrugged, pushing off the arm of the recliner she had leaned back against. “Might as well let them out.” She glanced back at Nicole after passing the couch, and Nicole kept a straight face, leaning back in the chair. 

Waverly returned with both cats in her arms, setting one of them in each of the boys’ laps. “Oh wow . . .” Jeremy said slowly as he slid a hand down Geronimo’s back. “Now  _ these  _ are some cute outfits.”

Robin chuckled, looking down at Calamity as she stood stiffly on his lap, the shirt on her showing just how small she was under all her fur. “I agree.”

“He is a big bro now,” Jeremy smiled, tracing his finger across one of the lime green B’s on the back of Geronimo’s green shirt, looking towards Calamity to see that her’s said big sis in orange on a red shirt. 

“Uh-huh.” Nicole looked towards Waverly and she nodded, so Nicole brought her pointer finger and thumb to her mouth and blew a sharp whistle, grinning wide when Houdini came sprinting from their room into the living room, jumping right up onto the couch with Jeremy and Robin. 

_ “Woah,”  _ Jeremy laughed. “Hey, Little Dude. That was impressive.” 

“What’s your shirt say?” Robin asked as he nudged him down from jumping up on him to lick his face, furrowing his brow a little when he saw that his purple shirt said big bro in yellow letters on the back of it. 

“Now that doesn’t make sense,” Jeremy mumbled, looking towards Nicole and Waverly’s smirks with a confused look on his face. 

“Did you happen to check the  _ fronts  _ of their shirts, Genius?” Nicole asked with a raised brow. 

Jeremy lifted Geronimo just as Robin lifted Houdini up, and they both let out a synchronized gasp, snapping their heads up towards them. 

The fronts of their shirts all said  _ Baby Haught Due May 2021,  _ of course.

_ “No way.” _ “Are you  _ serious?” _

“In case you’re wondering, this is going to be an  _ actual  _ child, not another fur baby,” Nicole informed with a grin. 

Waverly nodded. “I mean, as far as  _ we  _ know, I’m growing a human kid, but you never know these days.” 

Jeremy and Robin let out a synchronized squeal this time, quickly moving the animals off of them and rushing towards them. Jeremy pounced on Nicole to wrap her in a hug and Robin wrapped Waverly in a much more gentle one.

_ “Holy shit!”  _ Jeremy said with a laugh. “We’re gonna be guncles to a  _ human  _ baby!” 

Nicole let out a groan as his entire body continued to crush her. “What the hell is a  _ guncle?”  _

“Gay uncles!” Robin answered with a grin as he pulled back from Waverly. “Oh my God, guys! This is awesome! I’m so happy for you!” 

Jeremy finally got off of Nicole, and she let out a heavy breath that she sucked right back in when Robin yanked her to her feet to hug her after Jeremy had taken over hugging Waverly. Nicole smiled and gave his back a few pats before he pulled away from her. 

“Ya know, I  _ knew  _ something was up with you two,” Jeremy said after he pulled from Waverly. 

“How?” Waverly asked with a tip of her head. 

“He felt it in his groin,” Robin said with a shrug. 

“Of course he did,” Nicole muttered with a roll of her eyes.

**11:17 AM**

“I’m scared,” Nicole mumbled.

Waverly rubbed her hand on her thigh, giving her an assuring smile. "There's nothing to be afraid of, Babe. It'll be alright." 

Nicole clenched her jaw. "But, like-"

"No but's. If you're gonna be afraid if  _ anything,  _ be afraid of your eardrums bursting." 

"Oh,  _ God," _ Nicole mumbled. 

"Mhm." Waverly leaned across the console and cupped her cheek as she pressed some kisses to her face. "You'll be ok, I promise." 

Nicole let out a heavy breath, wiping her sweaty hands on her jeans before shutting the car off. "Alright, let's go." 

They both climbed out of the vehicle and made their way up to the house they had been parked in front of. Waverly tapped her fist on the door, and they both smiled when it opened. 

"Hey!" 

"Hey, Chris," Waverly said, and they both headed into the house when Chrissy moved out of the way.

"Hey, Kid." Nedley clapped Nicole's shoulder as he walked past her towards the kitchen. 

"Hey," she said with a smile, and they all followed behind him towards the smell of food. 

"The pizza guy got here right before y'all did," Nedley said as he pulled some plates out of the cabinet. 

Waverly looked over the three separate pizzas sitting on the kitchen table, quickly looking up at Nicole and seeing the small pout on her face. 

Nedley and Nicole shared an equal love for barbecue chicken pizza, and he had bought one for today. Of course, there was also a vegan pizza for Waverly and Chrissy's favorite veggie pizza that had  _ way  _ too much shit on it. 

Waverly ran her hand down Nicole's arm, sliding her hand up to her shoulder and pulling her down towards her. "You can go ham on pizza today, I'm giving you permission." 

Nicole looked towards her with heart eyes. "Really?" 

"Yeah," she said with a giggle. "I'm eating the vegan one, so it balances it out." 

Nicole giggled, cupping her cheeks and dropping a kiss to her lips. "I love you." 

"I love you, too," Waverly chuckled. Nicole had stuck true to the vegan diet the entire time, just like she had promised she would, so Waverly figured one meal wasn't going to hurt anything. 

Nicole dropped down into her chair and did some grabby hands for a plate, but Waverly smacked at her arm.  _ "Wait."  _

"What?" she whined. 

Waverly set the two gift bags she had carried in on the table. "Presents first." 

_ "Presents?"  _ Chrissy asked with raised brows. "For who?" 

"For you two, who do you think?" she asked with a laugh as she handed each of them a bag. 

“Well, it ain’t Christmas quite yet,” Nedley mumbled as he looked up at them with a suspicious raise of his brow. 

“It’s an early Christmas gift,” Nicole reasoned. 

“I still don’t trust it,” Chrissy mumbled.

"Just open it," they both huffed. 

"Alright, alright." Nedley pulled a couple of pieces of tissue paper out of the bag just as Chrissy did, and he looked down inside of the bag and pulled the gift out. They each unrolled their identically shaped pieces of fabric, and their eyes widened when they realized what they were. 

Chrissy's was a black onesie that said  _ my aunt says I'm perfect just like her,  _ and Nedley's was a white onesie with a cop car that said  _ Grandpa's #1 Backup _ above it.

"Are you fucking  _ serious?!"  _ Chrissy shouted. Waverly laughed with wide eyes as she dropped the onesie back onto the table and practically  _ sprinted  _ towards her, yanking up the bottom of her flannel and gawking at her stomach. 

Nicole slowly walked over to Randy and dropped a hand to his shoulder with a squeeze, knowing he hadn't pulled his eyes from it since the moment he looked at it. He lifted his head to look at her, and Nicole smiled softly at him. "You're bouta be a grandpa, Old Man." 

Nedley’s bottom lip wobbled, and Nicole quickly pulled him into a hug. Seeing him cry never failed to make her cry, so she really wanted to refrain from doing that. She wrapped her arms tightly around him and closed her eyes with a soft smile on her face. 

Chrissy jumped up and down while holding onto Waverly’s hands. _ “You’re having a baby!”  _

“I am!” she said with a laugh. “In May!” 

“In  _ May!?”  _ Chrissy shrieked. “That’s, like,  _ five  _ months from now!” 

“And I’m, like, four months pregnant.”

_ “You’re four months pregnant?!”  _

_ “Yes,”  _ Waverly answered, grabbing her shoulders to keep her from wiggling around. 

“Why didn’t you  _ tell  _ me?!” 

“I just did!” 

“Like, before!” 

“We hadn’t told anyone until Thursday,” Waverly shrugged. 

“Oh,” Chrissy mumbled, but a grin was right back on her face as she wiggled around again.  _ “My best friend’s pregnant!”  _

Nicole pulled back from Nedley’s arms and huffed as she wiped his face with her thumb. “Quit.” 

_ “Sorry,  _ I just found out I’m getting my first grandchild,” he said with a little huff, though there was a smile on his face. 

“D’you ever think you’d have a connection to something half-Earp?” Nicole asked with a smirk. 

_ “God,  _ no.” He looked towards Waverly with a little smile. “I couldn’t imagine it any differently now, though.” 

Nicole smiled and was about to say something else, but she was yanked into a hug from Chrissy that knocked the wind out of her.  _ “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!”  _

Nicole sucked in some air, cocking a brow as she was shaken around. “For what?”

Chrissy pulled back and grabbed her face. “For getting Waves pregnant! Now I get to play with a baby-  _ your guys’  _ baby all the time!” 

Nicole laughed with a roll of her eyes, patting her arm. “You’re welcome.”

She let out another squeal, letting go of Nicole. “I’m so excited!” She whipped around towards her father and grabbed his shoulders as she bounced around. “Are you excited?!” 

“I’m very excited,” he said with a chuckle, looking towards Waverly again. “Congratulations, Sweetheart.” He smiled softly at both of them. “You guys are gonna be great parents.” 

Nicole looked down at Waverly as she wrapped her arm around her waist and leaned into her side, laughing a little as she drooped her arm over her shoulders.  _ “God, _ I hope so.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> awes
> 
> If you take your brains back to the devil's year, you should remember that I teased a new fic. WELL, in case some of y'all didn't already see it, I posted the first chapter to it because I decided that it was what the majority of you wanted. I've already gotten lots of love on it which makes me so soft, but if you haven't read it yet, go check it out! Either click my name to go find it on my page (It's Heaven in Hiding) or just copy this link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28092627/chapters/68829192
> 
> Anyway. Hope y'all had a happy holidays and new year. Let's not fuck this one up
> 
> PS, thanks to the like three of you I bothered about pizza lmaoo


	11. Woman Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sad waverly  
> nic's birthday  
> peekin' at haught pocket  
> u know the drill

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayoooo  
> Welp, I got this 7k chap done pretty quick. Is that cuz I had a scene write for this from a while ago already? Sure is!!!  
> Anyway hope ya enjoy! I've got a feeling you will
> 
> (Also if you haven't checked the LTB Instagram lately, you might want to...:D )
> 
> sorry for typos in advance, I wanted to post this before I passed out for the night lmao

**Tuesday, January 5th, 2021 6:54 AM**

Nicole parked her Tahoe in front of the house, slumping back in her seat with a heavy yawn. She had just pulled probably the most  _ tiring  _ double of her life. 

If she had to guess, about 18 hours of the past 24 she had been up on her feet, and that was mostly because of the combination of both the drug dealers they had staked out and then chased down  _ and  _ the stupid mission Dolls had sent her and Wynonna on. 

It, of course, had been a dead end. 

All Nicole wanted to do was go inside and sleep, but she was dreading the worst. 

It was her birthday today after all. 

And she assumed that meant Waverly probably had something special planned for her that morning. Whether that be breakfast or whatnot. She really didn't know if she had the heart to tell her that she was far too exhausted to do anything more than pull her uniform off and drop into bed. 

Nicole sighed after a few more minutes of nodding in and out of sleep as she thought about it, finally biting the bullet and climbing out of her car. She yawned again as she approached the front door, but she paused and listened closely, widening her eyes when it registered. 

Waverly was crying. 

She quickly rushed into the house, hearing the cries coming from their room. She rushed down the hallway and pushed the door open. "Honey, what's wrong?" she asked as she wrapped her in her arms, seeing that she was standing by the closet door. 

"I'm  _ ugly!"  _ Waverly sobbed into her shirt. 

Nicole's brows furrowed tightly.  _ "No,  _ you're not." She pulled back and cupped her face. "Why would you think that?" 

“I’m  _ fat and ugly and-”  _

Nicole let out a loud huff, grabbing her face so she looked at her. “Waverly, you are carrying our  _ child.  _ You are not fat  _ or  _ ugly. You’re  _ 19 weeks pregnant.”  _

Waverly sniffled, and her lip wobbled as she looked back towards herself in the mirror on the door. “I’m sorry I’m fat and ugly on your birthday,” she mumbled. 

Nicole shook her head with a heavy sigh, pulling her back into a hug. “You’re not . . . It’s ok, don’t cry.”

Waverly relaxed against her chest, closing her eyes as Nicole ran her hand up and down her back. Nicole had no idea  _ what  _ had led her down this train of thought, but she also  _ really  _ did not want to know. All she wanted was for her to calm down because there was a special pain in her chest that always flared when she saw Waverly cry.

Waverly began to relax a little bit after a minute, and Nicole gave her body a tight squeeze before pulling back and meeting her eyes as she moved her hands to the front of her bump. “Look at me.” Waverly lifted her blotchy red face and met her eyes. “You’re  _ not  _ ugly. You’re  _ not  _ fat . . . You are  _ beautiful,  _ Wave. And I’m not just saying that either.” Waverly tried to look down as her eyes teared up, but Nicole tipped her chin right back up before dropping her hand back to where it was. “I mean, there’s a frickin’  _ baby  _ in my baby. Like,  _ you  _ made them with your woman magic.”

“Woman magic,” Waverly echoed with a teary laugh. 

Nicole gave her a dimpled smile. “Hell yeah. And if that ain’t the definition of a beautiful woman, I dunno what is.”

Waverly wiped her face, letting out a slow breath. "I dunno, I just-”

Nicole’s eyes widened just as fast as Waverly’s did, and they both snapped their eyes down to her stomach. Nicole pressed her hands against her stomach with a bit more force, quickly looking back up at her. “Was that . . . ?”

“I-” Waverly let out a breathy laugh as her eyes teared up again. “Yeah, I think so.” 

Nicole sunk to her knees in front of her, pressing her lips against her stomach where she had felt it. 

Where she had felt the kick.

It hadn’t been hard by any means, but it had been enough for both of them to feel it. Waverly hadn’t felt anything yet, at least nothing to register as a kick, so this was a first for both of them. 

Nicole let her forehead rest against her stomach as she let out a breath, feeling a tear roll down her face as she pressed another kiss to her stomach. “Hi, Haught Pocket,” she said softly. “Thank you for the birthday present.” She looked up at Waverly with a beaming smile, pushing up off the floor and cupping either side of her jaw as she leaned into a deep kiss.

Waverly arched into her as she slid her hands down her arms, giggling as she was quickly lifted off the floor. She looped an arm around Nicole’s neck, grabbing her face with the other hand. Nicole walked them over to the bed and dropped back on it. Waverly leaned down to catch her lips again, pressing her hands into the mattress on either side of her head. 

Nicole moved her hands to her hips with a squeeze, humming against her lips. “I love you.”

Waverly pulled back from her, smiling down at her. “I love you, too.” She lifted a hand, gently running her pointer finger over the bags under her eyes. “You need sleep.” 

“I’m well aware,” Nicole chuckled. 

“You also need to never work a double before your birthday again ‘cause that’s annoying.”

Nicole leaned her head back against the mattress with a sigh. “D’you think I wanted to?”

Waverly pursed her lips at her. “No, but-”

“Well!” Nicole sat them up, pulling her legs around her hips. “I’ll be ok. I’ll get some sleep ‘n come see you at lunch, ok?” 

Waverly nodded with a smile, but a pit sank in her stomach when she remembered that it was the first day back from break, and she was finally going back to school. “Ok,” she mumbled.  _ “But.”  _

_ “But?”  _ Nicole questioned with a raised brow. 

“You get one of your presents now before you go to sleep.” Waverly crawled off her lap, and Nicole watched as she walked over to the closet and moved some things at the bottom, pulling out a gift bag with a smile. 

_ “One  _ of my presents, huh?” Nicole asked with a raised brow as she handed it over to her.

“Mhm. And don’t go looking in the closet for them when I leave either, they’re not there.”

Nicole pursed her lips, knowing that was going to be the very first thing she did when Waverly left. She scooted back on the bed and set the bag in between her legs, pulling out the tissue paper. Her eyes widened down into the bag, and she pulled out the heavy leather that had been sitting at the bottom. “Damn, Baby,” she said with a little laugh. “This is  _ awesome.”  _

“Yeah?” she asked with a smile.

“Fuck yeah.” Nicole pushed off the bed and unhooked her duty belt, pulling all of her gear out of it and shoving it all into the new one. She clipped the holster shut around her Glock and grabbed the belt, messing with it for a second before securing it to her hips. Nicole looked up at Waverly with a dopey grin on her face. “Thank you, Baby.” She leaned down into a kiss. “I love it.” 

Waverly hummed, hooking her fingers on it and pulling her closer. “You needed a new one. That one was . . .”

“Old,” Nicole mumbled. “I’ve had it since I started working here.” 

_ “Really?” _ Waverly asked with wide eyes. 

“Yeah, so that’s, like, five years?”

“Damn,” Waverly mumbled. “You really did need a new one.” 

“I did,” she agreed, dropping another kiss to her lips. “And this one is even sexier than the other one.”

Waverly giggled. “I didn’t think that was possible.” 

“Neither did I,” she said with a grin as she pressed a couple more kisses to her lips. “Ok, you need to get ready. You ain’t going to school with no shirt on.” 

“Aw, why not?” 

“Get dressed,” Nicole laughed, pushing her towards the closet as she walked over to shove her gun in the gun safe. 

_ “Ok,”  _ Waverly groaned, grabbing a pair of her black shapewear leggings and a loose pink shirt. She pulled them on and grabbed a grey and white cardigan to pull on over it. 

Nicole dropped her clothes into the hamper, grabbing a pair of grey sweatpants out of the dresser and pulling them on. She didn’t even bother with a shirt before dropping face-first into bed. Waverly looked towards her with a chuckle as she pushed some moon earrings into her ears. She walked over and rolled her over, pulling the quilt out from under her and tucking her in. “Goodnight, Sweetheart.” She leaned down and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Nicole said through a yawn, reaching out blindly and touching her stomach. “Be nice to Mommy today, Haught Pocket.”

“They  _ better  _ be or they’re getting salad for lunch.”

Nicole gasped softly, rolling over as she ran her thumb over her stomach. “That’s a threat.” 

“It is a threat,” Waverly agreed as she poked her stomach a few times. 

“You’ve been warned, Haught Pocket,” Nicole mumbled as she flipped back over. 

Waverly leaned down to press one last kiss to her cheek. “Don’t come until my lunch period, ok? I want you to get some sleep.”

“M’kay.” 

Waverly could tell she was fading away already, so she turned with a smile and pulled the blackout curtains closed on the windows. She grabbed the rest of her things out of the room and set Houdini up on the bed to sleep with Nicole before turning out of the room to finish getting ready. 

**7:59 AM**

Waverly walked towards her classroom with the tea she had just made in the teacher’s lounge. She had hid out in there for most of the morning after the bell had rang because she  _ really _ didn’t want to be in a crowd of kids at the moment considering that there were still slight hints of tear stains on her face. 

She knew the only reason she had broken down that morning was because she had thought about it too much. Today was the first time she was actually going out in public not trying to hide her slightly visible bump. She had seen herself in the mirror and had formed a vision in her head that wasn't true at all, and it had freaked her out. 

Everything had slipped away after Haught Pocket had kicked, though. 

Since then, she hadn't  _ really  _ felt anything else. There was a few times where she had  _ thought  _ she felt something, but she wasn't sure if she was imagining it now or if she actually did. 

It really didn't matter, though. 

Her baby had kicked for the first time and let  _ both  _ of their moms feel it.

Waverly turned down her hall, seeing that there weren’t anymore kids in the hall since the tardy bell was just about to ring. She slowed as she neared her classroom, raising her brows when she heard just how loud it was in the classroom. She leaned her hip against the wall outside the door where she could see in but couldn’t be seen, watching as her homeroom kids jacked around with their friends that they hadn’t seen since they had gotten off for Winter Break. 

The bell rang, and she watched as their eyes flicked around the room in search of the lack of a teacher. Most of them settled as the announcements went off, but there were still a few of the problem kids that paid it no mind. 

Waverly smirked a little as she inched herself closer to the door after the  _ have a great day  _ faded off the intercom. She knew that none of them knew that she was back. She hadn’t told her classes when she would be, only that she was just going to be out for some time. 

And well. 

She saw an opportunity now and she took it. 

Waverly popped her head in past the door frame, hearing a few immediate gasps. She cleared her throat to get the rest of their attentions, feeling the smirk on her face grow wider when the smiles at her started forming. “Miss me?” A bunch of laughs and other random noises sprayed at her, and she laughed as she walked into the room and stopped at her podium, setting her mug down and leaning forward against it. “Is all this how you guys act when I’m not here? ‘Cause I will individually beat each and every one of you if it is.” 

“No,” one of them grumbled. “We were all bored and tired every day before break.”

“Why?” she asked with a laugh. “Was the sub that bad?”

_ “Yes,”  _ they all muttered at once.

“Dang,” she mumbled. “Well, sorry. Now I’m back, so you’re welcome.” 

“Where even  _ were _ you?” one of them asked. 

“Yeah, did you, like, die?” 

Waverly blinked at him. “I’m currently dead, yes.”

_ “Zombie Mrs. Haught,” _ he said in a spooky voice. 

A couple kids laughed, but most of them were just shaking their heads at him with rolls of their eyes. Waverly pushed her hand through her hair, standing up straight. “Well, I didn’t die. Almost kinda, but no.” 

_ “What?”  _ half of them questioned with wide eyes, and then an assortment of other questions immediately came flying at her. 

“Woah, hey, I’m fine now for the most part,” she assured with a little laugh as she put her hands up a bit to calm them down.

_ “For the most part?”  _ one asked with narrowed eyes.

“I mean . . .” She stepped out from behind the podium and pushed back the sides of her cardigan. “I’m still growing the demon child that’s making me sick, so.” 

_ “You’re pregnant?!”  _

_ “Oh my god.”  _

_ “I  _ knew _ it!”  _

An assortment of gasped sentences flew at her, and she grabbed her mug and walked over to her desk, sitting down in her rolly chair with a chuckle. “I am pregnant, and due at the end of May, so you guys get to deal with crabby Mrs. Haught all the way to the end of the school year.”

“Can I name it?” one of Nicole’s baseball boys asked. 

_ “No,  _ you may not,” she said with a sharp shake of her head. “I don’t need a Colton Jr.”

“Yes, you do,” he assured, and she scrunched her face at him. 

“Do you know what it is yet?” another one asked. 

“Nope. We’re technically finding out this weekend, but we’re doing a gender reveal party thing, so we won’t know for another few weeks.” 

“What d’you think it’s gonna be?”

Waverly leaned back in her chair after sending the attendance and lunch orders to the office through her computer.  _ “I  _ think it’s gonna be a girl.  _ Nicole  _ thinks it’s gonna be a boy.” The class immediately started sounding off their own opinions and she rolled towards the front of the room. “Ook,  _ wait.”  _ She stood up and grabbed her Smart Board pen, pulling up a blank template on the board. She wrote boy on one side and girl on the other. “Ok, hands up for boy.” Of the 19 kids, seven of them said boy, and she marked the tally marks on the board. “So then the rest of you are team girl, yeah?” 

“The mom always knows,” a boy who had voted girl said. 

“They’re both moms,  _ Stupid,” _ a girl grumbled. 

“The one  _ with  _ the baby,” he huffed. “Coach Sheriff ain’t preggo.” 

_ “Wait,  _ how’s that work?”

Waverly turned after marking the girl votes on the board and looked towards one of the boys in the back. “How’s what work?”

“Like, how’d you even . . .” He stopped talking when it seemed it registered what he was asking. 

Waverly bit the side of her cheek to hold in a laugh and crossed her arms as she leaned back against the wall. “Ayden, are you trying to ask me how I got pregnant?” 

The brown-haired boy’s face went cherry red, and a couple of kids snorted, a few of them shaking their heads at him. He threw his arms out. “How am I supposed to know?! They don’t teach us that stuff!” 

“They don’t, you’re right,” Waverly said with a chuckle. “I mean, I think I would be a little curious if you  _ did _ know how lesbians made a baby.”

“Don’t they use, like, sperm donors or something?” one of the girls asked as she dropped her face to rest on her palms. 

“They do mostly, yes,” Waverly confirmed. 

“Did  _ you?”  _ she questioned. 

“Yes,” Waverly answered with a laugh. 

“Was it a random dude?” one of the boys asked. 

“Somewhat, ye-”

“Was it a  _ redhead?!”  _ the same baseball boy as before asked. 

Waverly rolled her eyes, pushing off the wall with a red tint on her cheeks. “Yes. Remind me again why I’m telling all of you this?”

“‘Cause it’s interesting.” 

“Is it?” she asked as she sat back at her desk. 

“Yeah,” a student shrugged. “It’s like health class, but we actually learn stuff we don’t already know.” 

Waverly raised her brows at her with a chuckle. “Well, you’re welcome then.” 

“Ok, so like, why were you gone? If you're not gonna tell us  _ how  _ you got preggo, you can at least tell us that.” 

“Do you  _ really  _ wanna know why I was gone?”

_ “Yeah,”  _ most of them mumbled. 

She shook her head with a sigh, clicking around on her computer and opening a Google tab that projected onto the board. She typed in Hyperemesis Gravidarum and hit enter, looking out towards all of their faces and watching as they all slowly scrunched up as they read over the description of it. 

“So you just, like, projectile vomit everywhere?” 

Waverly looked towards him, blinking slowly. “. . . If I think about it hard enough, I can projectile vomit all over you right now.”

_ “No!”  _

She laughed, glancing up at the board. “Anyway, yeah. That’s why I was so weird before I took off. I was miserable 24/7.”

A couple of them mumbled things, mostly just in shock if how  _ not fun _ her condition sounded. Waverly closed the tab and glanced towards the clock, looking back towards the students when she heard her name. "What?" 

"So you're gonna be here for the rest of the year?" 

"I should be, yeah. I'm due on the 28th of May-" 

_ "Hey,  _ that's my birthday!" 

Waverly smiled at the girl who had yelled it out. "Well, I guess you guys can be birthday twins if the baby actually comes on time."

"Why wouldn't it?"

"My family has a history of having late babies. Both my sisters and I were late, my niece was late." She shrugged. "My odds aren't great." 

"Do they end up having to, like, rip the baby out if it doesn't wanna come?" 

Waverly shook her head at the boy with wide eyes.  _ "No . . .  _ They wait for you to go into labor, and if you don't, they induce you so that it starts." 

“Oh,” he mumbled. “Yeah, that makes more sense.” 

She rolled her eyes with a laugh, flicking her eyes towards the clock when the bell rang. “Alright, get outta here. Have a great day, Guys!” 

She got an assortment of goodbyes as the ones not in her first hour rushed out of their homeroom. A bunch of new faces came in, and she pretended she didn’t see their smiles the second that they saw she was back. 

She stuck with that ritual for her first three classes of the day. They didn’t actually do anything all day, she just talked with them about their Christmas and the rest of their breaks, while mostly answering more weird questions about her pregnancy. She really hadn’t considered how openly curious some of them were about it, so some of the questions that came out of their mouths scared her a bit. 

Most of them she answered, though. Not all, but most. 

Waverly was working on reorganizing the bookshelf in her room towards the end of her prep period when she heard a tap on her door. She turned her head, smiling wide when she saw Nicole. “Hi, Baby!”

“Hey,” she said with a little chuckle, pulling the door closed behind her and dropping her hands to Waverly’s hips when she bounced over to her and stood up on her toes to kiss her. “How’s today going?”

“Really good,” Waverly answered with a grateful smile. “I’m feeling pretty fine.” 

Nicole smiled softly, pressing another kiss to her lips. “That’s great, Baby. I’m glad.” 

Waverly turned, grabbing her hand and pulling her further into the classroom. “D’you sleep ok?” 

Nicole dropped down onto the rolly chair when Waverly pushed her down to sit there. “Calamity was yelling at Geronimo, so I had to kick them off the bed, but other than that, yes.”

“That’s not surprising,” she mumbled, hopping up onto the edge of her desk.

“She’s getting crabbier with age, just like me,” Nicole said with a dimpled smile. 

Waverly nodded with a raise of her brows, grabbing the sides of her chair and pulling her closer, sliding off the desk onto her lap. “That’s for sure.”

Nicole narrowed her eyes at her as her hands slid to her hips under her cardigan. “Well, that’s rude. You’re supposed to say  _ no, Sweetie Pie, you’re not crabby.”  _

“I mean, I never lie to you, Baby. Would you like me to start?”

Nicole pursed her lips at her, and Waverly giggled, cupping her cheeks as she leaned down into a kiss. Nicole moved her hands around to grip her ass. “Rude.” 

Waverly shook her head, sliding her hands down her biceps and feeling Nicole’s fingers tighten into her hips when she flexed them. “I’m just telling ya the truth.”

“M’kay,” Nicole grumbled, grabbing her jaw and pulling her back into a kiss. 

Waverly’s lips were on Nicole’s for a while, and eventually, her back was up against the wall on the other side of the room and her ankles were locked behind her back. Neither of them really knew how they had gotten over there, but they  _ did  _ know that they weren’t mad about it. 

Nicole pulled back from her when they heard a knock on the classroom door, and she stared at Waverly with wide eyes. Waverly huffed, unlocking her legs and allowing herself to drop to the ground. She pushed her hand through her hair a few times as she walked over to the door, pulling it open with a smile. 

Nicole slowly walked towards the door, bending forward a bit when she was able to see who it was and smirking wide when she saw Waverly paying the man and taking the bag of food and drink carrier from his hand. Waverly shut the door after he turned away, and Nicole did grabby hands for the bag. “What is it?”

_ “Birthday  _ lunch,” Waverly answered, pulling it away from her zone of reaching and walking over to her desk. She turned the plain brown delivery bag over, and Nicole grinned wide when she saw a bunch of tacos and burritos fall out of it. 

“You got me  _ Taco Bell?”  _ Nicole asked with a pouty lip. 

“I did,” Waverly giggled. "And I'm letting you not be vegan again." 

_ “Awe.”  _ Nicole stepped around the desk and gently grabbed her face to pepper it with kisses. “I love you.” 

“I love you, too,” Waverly smiled, looking down at the assortment of food sprawled out on her desk and separating each of their orders. “We’ve only got, like, 20 minutes, so you need to hurry up and those.” 

“Only thing I’ll ever deepthroat,” Nicole said with a wide smile as she collected all of her food into her arms and grabbed her drink. 

Waverly groaned in annoyance, but she grabbed her own stuff and walked over to the beanbags with her. "You're  _ disgusting."  _

Nicole raised her brows at her as she swallowed down half the burrito already in her mouth. "You told me to hurry." 

"Nic, you're gonna  _ choke," _ she huffed when she watched her shove the other half of it into her mouth. "Stop." 

Nicole swallowed it down with a smile after a few seconds, looking down at herself. "You coulda told me not to wear white." She wiped the burrito goop off the front of her white and black baseball tee, fishing a piece of ice out of her drink to try and clean the stain off. 

"Or you could  _ not _ eat like a pig," Waverly suggested. 

"Is that a cop joke?" Nicole asked with a raise of her brow. 

Waverly kicked her leg. "Shut up." 

The two finished up their food and still had a couple of minutes left. Waverly dropped all of their trash into the delivery bag and threw it into the trash can across the room. She glanced over at Nicole, seeing her now vegging out on the beanbag on her phone. "Hey." 

Nicole looked up at her. "Hmm?" 

"C'mere." Waverly walked over to her desk. 

"Why?" Nicole asked suspiciously. 

Waverly hopped up on the edge of her desk, tipping her head at her and waiting semi-patiently as Nicole groaned and pushed herself up off the beanbag. Waverly pushed her down into the rolly chair with a smile. 

"What?" Nicole asked. 

"You're getting another present," Waverly answered. 

She smirked a little, moving her hands to the sides of her thighs and sliding them down. "Oh, am I?" 

Waverly flicked her hands off. "Put your dick away." 

"Aw," she mumbled sadly. 

Waverly rolled her eyes, leaning over and opening her right top desk drawer and pulling a smaller rectangular box out with blue shiny wrapping paper. Nicole gently took it, glancing up at her with a raised brow. "What is it?" 

"How about you open it and find out for yourself, Genius?" 

Nicole sighed, dropping her hands to her lap and pulling the wrapping paper off. She set it on Waverly's desk, leaning her elbows on her knees as she looked at the Black Walnut wooden box in her hands. She flipped it over, raising her brows when she traced her thumb over the  _ Haught  _ engraved onto the cover. She opened the hinged top, widening her eyes down into it and immediately scooting the chair forward so she could set the box down. 

"Waves . . ."

Nicole gently lifted the switchblade out of the box, carefully looking it over. The wooden handle was the same kind as the box's wood, and all of the metal surrounding it was a white silver. Her thumb traced over the silvery-white paint in the  _ Haught  _ engraving on the front side before it pressed on the latch on the side that allowed the knife to snap out. Her eyes were wide as she dropped the tip of the knife to her finger and slowly spun it, admiring the stunning damascus steel blade. 

Nicole lifted her eyes to Waverly after a few more seconds. "How much  _ was  _ this, Baby?" 

"None of your business."

Nicole pursed her lips, looking back down at it as she pulled the blade in and messed with the clip on the back. "It's  _ beautiful."  _

"You like it?"

Nicole met her eyes. "I  _ love  _ it." She stood up and wrapped her in a hug. "Thank you, Baby." 

Waverly smiled, watching as she pulled her old switchblade out of her pocket and compared the two. "I just . . . I know that one's really special to you and that you've used it a lot over the years." 

"I've had it for, like . . . 12ish years now, something like that." She flicked the blades out on both of the knives, looking back up at her and shaking the hand with the new one in it. "This one's  _ so  _ nice, though." 

"Have you realized that day, like, three months ago when you thought you lost it, I had it?"

Nicole's jaw fell open. "It  _ wasn't _ under the couch?" 

"No," Waverly laughed. "I took it up to the shop to show them the kind you had." 

Nicole shook her head at her. "Well, that was rude." 

Waverly took the new one from her hand. "I'll return this." 

_ "Nonono-" _ Nicole took it back. "I'm sorry, I love it, it was worth it." 

Waverly grinned with a nod. "Thought so." 

Nicole looked back down at both of them again, noting how much  _ more _ she liked the light metal and dark wood on the new one than the dark wood and dark metal on the old one. "I'm conflicted now, though." 

"About?" Waverly questioned with a raised brow.

"I dunno if I should keep using the old one and just have the other one be all fancy not touched so it doesn't get hurt or if I should just start using the new one and preserve the old one."

"Well . . ." Waverly took them both from her hands. "If  _ I  _ were you . . . I would start using the new one that way you could, ya know . . . maybe save the old one for Haught Pocket when they're older. And maybe the next kid can get this one sometime when you retire it for a new one again." 

Nicole smiled softly at her with a little nod. "That's a good idea." She looked over her old one, seeing the fading on the engraving and the wear on the staining of the wood from oils in her hands. There were a few scuffs, too, but it was in  _ very _ good condition considering that she had kept it on her almost every day now for over a decade. She sighed as she set it in the wood box the new one came in and dropped the new one into her pocket, smiling at Waverly again. "Thank you, Love." 

Waverly hummed against her lips when she leaned down into a kiss. "You're welcome." 

They both raised their heads when the bell rang, and Nicole let out a sad sigh. "Alright. I'll see you later. I don't wanna get trampled." 

Waverly nodded with a sad smile. "Ok . . . Bye, Baby. I love you." 

Nicole grabbed her knife box and turned towards the door. "I love you, too." 

Waverly watched her go, flicking her eyes towards her computer as she moved off her desk and sat in her chair. She let out a little gasp, looking up with a little smirk. "Hey, Birthday Girl?" 

Nicole looked back towards her when she reached the door. "Yeah?" 

Waverly smirked even wider, nodding towards the board when she pulled up the talky sheet. "My classes are 76% Team Girl right now combined." 

Nicole rolled her eyes back to her brain with a dramatic groan. "They're all  _ wrong!" _

**Saturday, January 9th, 2021 7:12 AM**

Nicole’s eyes blinked open to the now-familiar sound of her wife’s feet stumbling across their bedroom’s hardwood floor straight to the bathroom, then the god-awful noise that followed. She let out a sad sigh as she pushed herself out of bed, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she walked to the kitchen and grabbed her a cup of water. She headed back to the bathroom and gave it a small knock before pushing the door open to find her shifting away from the toilet and curling up in a ball as she leaned back against the corner of the wall that met the tub. 

“I can’t keep doing this,” Waverly said through a choked sob as she shook her head, dropping her face to her hands. 

“Don’t say that,” Nicole mumbled softly, setting the cup down next to her as she sat down on the floor with her. She pushed her hand through her hair. “You’re doing amazing, Baby.” Waverly shook her head and Nicole let out a huff. “Hey . . . You are the  _ strongest  _ woman I have ever met. And you’re already an  _ outstanding  _ mother. HG ain’t gonna stop that.”

Waverly slumped to lean her head on her shoulder, wrapping her arms around one of Nicole’s as she let out a teary huff. “It’s not just that anymore. I- I  _ always  _ have a headache, I don’t get  _ sleep  _ anymore, I’m  _ moody _ , and I’m just  _ so fucking nauseous _ all the time. We’re  _ past  _ the first trimester, I don’t  _ get  _ it. Dr. Molina said it would go away after 16 weeks and I’m basically  _ 20. _ ”

Nicole let out a sigh, coaxing her to sit up before standing up off the floor and holding her hand out. Waverly took it and slowly stood, letting Nicole set her on the counter and taking the water cup when she handed it to her. “. . . We’ve got our gender appointment today, and that means we’re getting our second ultrasound done. If something is wrong, which  _ nothing _ is, we’re gonna know.” Nicole placed her hands on her stomach, and her brow lifted. She raised the hem of her hoodie, smiling down at the bump that was  _ definitely  _ bigger than it had been the morning before when she last saw it. Not by a  _ whole  _ lot, but enough to notice it. “Hi,  _ you _ .” She leaned forward and pressed a few kisses to her stomach, rubbing her thumbs on her waist. “Quit bein’ so mean to your mommy. I don’t like seein’ her cry.” 

She stood back up straight and gave Waverly a soft, dimpled smile, but a couple more tears ran down her cheeks. Waverly pulled her into a hug, pushing her face into her neck. “I love you.” 

“I love you, too,” Nicole mumbled, running her hand slowly up and down her back. She pulled back and cupped her cheeks. “How about I make you one of those pregnant meal supplement  _ whatever the fuck _ drinks while you get showered and stuff?” Waverly slowly nodded with a sniffle, and she smiled, stepping back from her and helping her down. “Alright. I would kiss you, but I’m not really into puke breath.” 

“ _ Stop _ ,” she whined, pushing her away. 

“I’m kidding,” Nicole chuckled as she pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Well, not really, but- Ya know what, I’m gonna go before I get smacked.” 

“Great idea,” Waverly grumbled, watching as she quickly scrambled out of the bathroom with a shake of her head. 

**7:56 AM**

Waverly sipped on her  _ breakfast _ , grading some homework at the island and looking up when she heard Nicole coming down the hallway. Her brow furrowed when she saw that she was in her uniform, though. “Where’re you going?” 

“I just got called into a meeting. Apparently someone from Corporate is here or something.” 

Waverly turned around in her chair. “But-” 

“I know,” she sighed as she moved to stand in front of her, taking her hands when she saw that they went straight to her belly. “I called  _ Wynonna _ and she didn’t answer, so then I called  _ Chrissy _ , but she’s working, so then I called  _ Jessie, _ and she’s on her way over to go with you.”

Waverly leaned back in her chair, letting out a breath. “Nic-” 

“I  _ promise _ , right when I get out, I’ll head up there to meet y’all, but . . . I’m so sorry. I asked, but they said I’ve  _ gotta _ come in.” 

Waverly swallowed the nerves back, shaking her head as she hooked her fingers on her belt. “No, it’s ok. We already knew things like this were gonna happen.”

“I know, but-”

“It’s ok, Babe.” She slid her hands down her arms, pulling her down into a gentle kiss. “Don’t stress it.” 

Nicole sighed, pressing their foreheads together for a second before pulling back and giving her one last kiss. “I love you.” She leaned down and pressed a kiss to her stomach. “And I love you.” 

Waverly smiled softly at her as she turned towards the door. “Bye, Nic. Love you, too. I’ll call you if I know something before you get there.”

“Alright. Bye, Baby.” She grabbed her jacket and pulled the door open, giving her a sad smile before slipping out of it. 

Waverly turned back around in her chair, leaning forward onto her elbows and pushing her fingers into her hair. She let out a raspberry, moving her left hand to her stomach as she picked up the pen she had been using to grade with the other. “You better  _ chill out, _ Dude.” 

**8:34 AM**

“I just think you’re taunting me,” Waverly grumbled with a small smirk as she looked up at Jessie.

She threw her arms out before sipping some more on her Starbucks. “I’m just tryna make up for the coffee I couldn’t drink when I was pregnant with  _ him _ ,” she huffed, pointing to Auggie in Waverly’s arms. 

Waverly looked down at the baby, smiling as she rubbed her hand on his stomach, taking into note how he was wearing his coolest cousin ever onesie he had gotten when they had told Jessie and Auggie they were expecting the month before under his little jacket. 

Because they had used  _ their _ baby to tell the Hanna’s they were having one of their own, of course.

“Your mama’s taunting me,” she cooed, fixing the blue beanie on his head.

Jessie let out another huff, shaking her head. They were currently sitting in the sonogram room, waiting for the doctor. Waverly had gotten checked out  _ and  _ some blood drawn, but her doctor said that everything on the surface looked completely fine and that her HG was just sticking around for longer than anticipated. 

Waverly sat back on the propped-up bed she was sitting on, shifting the baby in her arms when he started to whine a little, getting him to stop after a second. “I’m not overreacting about this, am I?”

Jessie met her eyes, pursing her lips before shaking her head. “I don’t think so. I know it’s different for everyone, I mean, duh. I didn’t have HG or anything- I actually didn’t have barely any morning sickness at all. My pregnancy overall was . . .” She let out a breathy laugh as she sat back in her chair and threw her foot over her knee. “Not that horrible actually, but yours?” She shook her head. “Definitely not the same. I mean, all I have to do is look at you.”

“So you mean I look like shit?”

“Wh-  _ No _ .”

“I know I look like a zombie, Jess, it’s alright.” 

“Ok, then yeah, you look like shit.” 

Waverly sighed, letting her head fall back. “It’s probably just the Earp Curse- Or maybe this baby just hates me already, I dunno.” 

“Wave . . . C’mon.”

“Sorry,” she mumbled, hugging Auggie a little tighter. “I’m just scared.”

Jessie rubbed her arm from beside her. “I know you are. I’m sure everything’s alright, though. It’ll be shit if you have this the whole time, but she said that  _ some  _ people with HG  _ do  _ have it until the baby’s born.” 

_ “God, _ I hope I don’t.”

They both looked up when the door opened and her doctor walked into the room. She gave them a smile, eyes falling to the baby in Waverly’s arms. “Someone decided they wanted to wake up to see the baby with us, huh?” She asked as she walked around to the other side of the bed, knowing he had been asleep the other time she was in the room with them.

“Nah, he crapped himself,” Jessie sighed, taking him from Waverly when she handed him over and let Dr. Molina lay the bed back. 

“Jess,” Waverly laughed, throwing her a look. 

“What? He did.” 

The doctor let out a sigh as she fired up the ultrasound machine, shaking her head at the two. “Alright . . . This is the kind of ultrasound you did for your first scan at the hospital, right? The-”

“The up the-  _ yep _ ,” Waverly confirmed with a sharp nod, letting her eyes fall to the wand she grabbed. 

“Nicole had  _ all  _ the jokes when the lady left the room, didn’t she?” Jessie asked with a snort. 

Waverly threw her a glare with a huff. “ _ My _ wife, the  _ Sheriff _ of Purgatory, joking about something like that?” She rolled her eyes with a sigh. “You bet your ass she was.” 

Dr. Molina chuckled. “Ok, stay as still as you can for me, alright?” Waverly gave her a nod, letting her eyes trace over the ceiling. “You nervous?”

“I’m  _ extremely _ nervous,” she said, tilting her head to the side so she could meet her eyes after the wand was in position.

“If something was up, we would have already realized it. Trust me. Your HG’s just not letting up yet, I’m sure of it.” 

Waverly sighed, knowing that did take a little bit of the nerves away. “Ok . . . I trust you.”

Dr. Molina gave her an assuring smile before turning her eyes back to the screen that was angled for them and her to see. “Alright, here we are. And  _ there’s  _ baby.” 

Waverly felt herself go teary-eyed when she looked at the screen. Their baby actually looked like a  _ baby _ now, unlike at the six-week scan when they were just a blob. “Hi, Haught Pocket,” she said with a breathy laugh. 

“I’m still not over that,” Dr. Molina said with a chuckle. ". . . Are we learning this Haught Pocket’s gender today or are you guys doing a gender reveal?” 

“I know it now,” Jessie smirked, having seen it when she moved the view around just slightly. 

Waverly snapped her head towards her with warning eyes. “You shut up.” She looked back to the doctor. “Yeah, we’re doing a reveal party, so no, don’t tell me.”

“Alright . . .” She moved the wand around to try and get a different angle of the baby. “Everything looks-” Dr. Molina and Jessie both let out a synchronized gasp, and Jessie was out of her chair and walking around just as fast as the doctor tipped the screen towards her. 

_ “What?” _ Waverly asked with her heart in her throat as she traced her eyes over both of their faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I plead the 5th


	12. Ha Ha, Momma Found Your Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'll just let y'all read it mhmm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy  
> I mean, y'all went off on the last chap in the comments...let's see if y'all were right with your assumptions  
> And uh.......well  
> you're welcome :)

**Saturday, January 9th, 2021 8:40 AM**

_ “What?”  _ Waverly asked with her heart in her throat as she traced her eyes over Dr. Molina and Jessie's faces. 

“I think we’ve found another factor to add into why you’ve got HG, Dear,” Dr. Molina said as both of their eyes landed back on her. 

_ “What? _ What’s wrong?” Waverly was trying her best not to move, but she couldn’t really help it at this point. 

Jessie covered her hands over part of her face as the doctor tipped the screen back in her direction. “Wave, it’s  _ twins!” _

Her eyes shot out of her head as she looked towards the screen.  _ “WHAT?!”  _

Jessie rushed around to the other side of the machine with a happy squeal as she pointed towards it. “Look!” 

“I fucking  _ see.”  _

The angle of the view before had been the back of the baby, but it seemed that they had shifted to their side, making room for the other to be in view. 

Tears stormed Waverly’s eyes, and she covered her mouth as they started to roll down her face. “Congratulations, Mama,” Dr. Molina chuckled. “You’ve got two Haught Pockets in ya.” 

“Oh my god!” she cried, watching the screen as they both moved a little. 

“This is a good thing, right?” Jessie asked as she pushed her hand through Waverly’s hair, a small hint of worry growing on her face. 

“Yeah- I think so, I don’t know.” She wiped at her face, though it didn’t really matter. “That was just . . . the  _ last  _ thing I expected. The nurse at the hospital even  _ looked  _ for another one and said it was just one.” 

“Sometimes it’s hard to tell, especially at only six weeks,” Dr. Molina said as she snapped some pictures with both of the babies in shot. “I didn’t expect it cause your bump is still pretty small at 20 weeks for  _ twins,  _ but you’re just a Skinny Minnie, so that’s probably why.” 

Waverly looked towards her. “So wait- Are they ok? Both of them?”

“Well. I just measured. They’re both at a good size- About the size of big ol’ tomatoes right now.” She pressed a couple of buttons on the machine as Jessie continued to slowly comb her fingers through Waverly’s hair to keep her calmed down to a slight extent. “Let’s hear those heartbeats, though.” She pressed one last button, and a steady thumping sound filled the room. Waverly covered her mouth again, grabbing Jessie’s hand with a squeeze. “There’s Baby A’s- The one we were first looking at and most likely the one that was hiding the other during your last scan, too.” She shifted the wand a little. “Alright.” The sound of a different heartbeat came through, a fainter and slower one, it seemed. “And there’s Baby B . . .”

Waverly snapped her eyes towards her, hearing how her voice had changed a bit. “That’s different, right?”

She slowly nodded, looking towards Jessie as she leaned in closer to the machine and looked at the graph for the heartbeats. “Ok . . . Baby B  _ might _ have fetal bradycardia, which would make sense if you didn’t hear this one’s heartbeat during your first scan.”

“What’s that?” Waverly asked, slowly feeling the color leaving her face.

Jessie squeezed her hand with a shake of her head. “Relax. It sounds scarier than it is.” She saw Dr. Molina’s cocked brow and looked towards her. “I’m a NICU nurse in Calgary. We had one of these babies a couple of months ago.”

“Gotcha,” Dr. Molina said with a nod, looking back towards Waverly. “Basically, it just means they have an abnormally slow heartbeat. I think we’re gonna set you up with Dr. Coghlan over at the Children’s hospital in Calgary. She’s the fetal cardiologist over there, so she’ll be able to tell you more than I will.”

“Ok,” Waverly breathed out. “But are they alright?”

“As far as I can tell right now, yes. They’re moving just as much as the other and their amniotic sack looks normal. We don’t need to flip out right now ‘cause they’re fine for the most part and don't seem to be in any distress. Dr. Coghlan will be able to tell you for sure about the heart, though.”

Waverly let out another shaky breath and leaned her head back as the tears started down her face again. “Ok, thank God.” She squeezed Jessie’s hand a little tighter. “I’m happy, but . . .  _ so _ terrified.”

She shook her head. “There’s nothing to be terrified of, Wave. All three of you are alright right now as far as we know.” 

“But- Oh _ god, _ Nicole!” Her eyes shot out of her head. “She’s gonna lose her  _ fucking  _ mind!”

“Considering she bawled like a baby when she found out you were having  _ one, _ I think she might pass out when she learns there’s two.” 

“No- Wh- Before we were even engaged, we were watching Friends and we finished it together, and- ya know how Chandler and Monica had surprise twins, yeah. W- We started talking about it and she seemed like she would  _ hate  _ to have two at once.”

Jessie’s brow dipped, but she shook her head. “That was, what, like four years ago? And a hypothetical? You can’t think like that. I’m sure she never thought it would actually happen.” 

“But-” 

“Dude, I’ve  _ seen  _ her talk about having this baby. She’s gonna be  _ ecstatic, _ I promise.” Waverly let out a breath through her mouth and pulled one in slowly to try and calm herself down. 

“You see this line right here?” Dr. Molina asked, pointing to the screen. 

“Yeah,” Waverly mumbled with a nod. 

“That’s the split between the sacks, meaning they’re gonna be fraternal.”

“I’m not gonna mix up my babies,” she said with a teary laugh. 

“I probably still will,” Jessie mumbled, and Waverly rolled her eyes at her with a shake of her head. 

“You guys did an all-natural at-home insemination, correct?” Dr. Molina questioned.

“Yeah. We figured it wouldn’t make sense to use drugs or anything since I don’t have any fertility problems.” 

“So twins must run in your family then, yeah?” 

Her brow furrowed with a shake of her head. “Not that I know of, no.” 

“What about Julian’s side?” Jessie asked. 

Her brows raised. “. . . Maybe? I don’t know.” 

Dr. Molina cocked a brow. “Julian is . . .?” 

“My biological father- Long story.” 

She nodded. “It’s possible a grandfather with a history of twins in his family can pass the gene, so maybe.” She took one more picture to get printed. “Ok. Say bye to babies.” 

“Bye, Little Leprechauns,” Jessie smiled with a wave. 

“Jess,” Waverly huffed, wiping at her face. 

“Your  _ donor  _ was a redhead, you have a redheaded  _ father, _ _and_ your redhead  _ wife  _ is giving  _ all  _ the good mojo. If at least one of them ain’t a ginger, I’m suing.” 

“I don’t care  _ what  _ they are as long as they’re healthy,” she mumbled as she rubbed her eyes. “And right now, we don’t know that.” 

Dr. Molina pulled the wand out and turned the machine off. “Alright. Go ahead and get dressed while I get your pictures. I’ll put the gender reveal ones in a separate envelope for you.”

“We should meet you out there?” Jessie asked.

She pulled the door open and flicked the light on before slipping out. “Yep, by the front desk. I’ll get your appointment set up in Calgary as early as she can get you in.” 

The door clicked shut and Waverly slowly sat up, moving the sheet off her and grabbing her pants to pull back on. Jessie checked on Auggie in his car seat, buckling him in all the way as Waverly got dressed. She pulled her shoes back on, sitting on the very edge of the bed with a shaky breath, pulling the hem of her shirt over her nose as her brainstormed with a million trillion different thoughts and scenarios. 

It was all just too much. 

Jessie turned around when she heard her crying again, moving towards her and wrapping her in a hug. “Hey . . . It’s alright.” 

“What if-”

“No. No what if’s.” 

“But-” 

“Nope.” She slowly ran her hand up and down her back. “Me and Topher learned it the hard way. You can’t get yourself in that headspace or it’s gonna  _ destroy  _ you.” 

She let out a wobbly breath. “I’ve just never felt like this before.”

“Like what?” Jessie asked softly, pulling back and resting her hands on her shoulders. 

“Like . . . so fucking happy, but so fucking terrified at the same time.” 

Jessie wiped the tears from her face with a sigh, “Welcome to motherhood.”

Waverly swallowed, standing up straight and moving to grab her jacket. “I just . . . I need to see Nic. She needs to know what's going on.” Jessie nodded and grabbed Auggie’s carrier, opening the door and letting her out first.

They got everything they needed from Dr. Molina, including an appointment date for later that day in Calgary, so they made their way out to Jessie’s car, loading up and heading off. Waverly curled up on the passenger’s seat, leaning against the door as Jessie tried to keep an unrelated conversation going to keep her mind from wandering. She knew that all she was going to need was Nicole’s validation, but until then, she was well aware that it was still a delicate subject.

But it seemed it was all a waste anyway because the second the station came into view, Waverly was crying again. 

“It’s ok,” Jessie soothed, parking the car close to the front entrance and shifting her body to face her. “C’mon, let’s go find Nicole.”

Waverly shook her head. “I’ll go.”

“You wanna go alone? You sure?” 

She fumbled the buckle of her seatbelt, getting it unlocked. “I’m sure.” 

“Alright, if you’re sure.” 

Waverly leaned over the console and wrapped her in a hug. “Thank you. For everything.” 

Jessie smiled, giving her a squeeze. “Anytime.” Waverly pulled back and pushed her door open. “Call me later, ok? After the appointment?” 

She nodded, “ I will. Bye, Jess.” 

“See ya.” 

Waverly gave her a tiny attempt at a smile as she shut the door, making her way inside and feeling the nerves crawl right up her throat. She covered her hand over her mouth as she felt a panic attack come on, darting her eyes around and seeing that all the deputies were just wandering around, so she figured the meeting was over. She stumbled over to Nicole’s office and pushed the door open, finding her grabbing a jacket off the back of her chair. 

Nicole looked up, and her eyes widened as fear knotted in her stomach after seeing her now-sobbing mess of a wife. She dropped the jacket and quickly moved towards her. “What? I was just about to leave- What’s wrong?” Waverly tried to speak, but all she could get out was choked syllables, so she did the next best thing she could think of and held up two fingers. Nicole’s gaze went to her hand and she shook her head. “Two? What’s two-” Her eyes shot open and she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Waverly's other hand on her stomach and her brain put it together. “Two babies- We’re having _ twins?!”  _ Waverly nodded and clapped her hands over her mouth again. 

Nicole’s eyes snapped from her face to her belly a few times before she let out a surprised laugh with the biggest grin on her face. “Holy shit!” She rushed forward and scooped Waverly up, tightening her arms around her as she took a few more steps. Waverly locked her ankles behind her back, crying into her shoulder. “Baby, we got a two-for-one! This is awesome!-” She pushed at her arm to get her to sit up. “This  _ is _ awesome, right?”

“Yeah, but I- I thought you’d be mad,” she mumbled as she tried to calm her breathing.

Nicole’s brow furrowed tightly and she sat them down on the couch, moving her hands to her cheeks. “Why would I be mad?” she asked softly. 

“‘Cause . . . You didn’t sign up for two, a-and that one time you said-” 

Nicole quickly shook her head. “That was forever ago, Waves. And, besides, we wanted more than one eventually anyway, so I kinda did in a way.” Her eyes teared up when she sat back against the couch and pushed her hands up her shirt to rest on her stomach. _“Two_ little Haught Pockets in my beautiful wife?” Nicole looked back up at her as she blinked a few tears out. “That’s better than anything I could’ve ever dreamed of.”

Waverly sniffled, pressing their foreheads together for a few seconds as she relaxed in her lap. She cupped her cheeks for a second before letting her hands fall to her shoulders as she sat up. “Look,” she mumbled, taking the sonogram pictures out of the envelope that wasn’t for the gender reveal.

Nicole took them from her hand, smiling softly as she looked them over. “They’re so big already.” She looked up at Waverly. “How did she even miss that at the first ultrasound?”

Waverly shook her head with a shrug. “I don’t know . . . Dr. Molina said it’s hard to tell that early sometimes, but still. It would’ve been  _ really  _ nice to know that before.”

“Yeah, no shit,” Nicole mumbled with a sigh, smiling again as she looked down at the pictures.

Waverly sniffled again, pulling the appointment card out of her pocket and handing it to her. “Ok, so, uh.” Nicole traced her eyes over the  _ Fetal Cardiologist  _ title next to the woman’s name, quickly looking up at her. “She thinks Baby B might have something wrong.”

“Like, bad?” Nicole asked quickly with a huff.  _ “Wave, _ why didn't you-”

She shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. She said something about a condition with a slow heartbeat. Everything else is fine with them, like, they both look the same physically.” Nicole swallowed a little, and Waverly ran her thumbs over her clenched jaw. “We’ve gotta be in Calgary by one, and we’ll figure it all out with this lady. Ok?”

Nicole nodded, though her brow was still knotted. “Ok . . .”

Waverly let out a slow breath, looking up towards the ceiling to keep the tears in her eyes. “I . . . I’m scared. Like,  _ really fucking scared.  _ Dr. Molina  _ and  _ Jessie said it was fine, but I mean, obviously it’s  _ not  _ fine. I’m forcing myself not to Google anything ‘cause I know that’s just gonna freak me out more.”

Nicole dropped her hands back to her bump, looking down at it for a few seconds before meeting her eyes again. “Whatever it is, though, we’ve got this. Yeah?”

Waverly nodded, wiping her face with her sleeves. “Yeah.” 

Nicole relaxed back against the couch. “So . . . Back to the  _ twins  _ thing.”

Waverly let out a breathy laugh as she pushed her lashes up. “We’re having two kids already, huh?”

“I guess so.” Nicole let her hands fall limply to her sides. “Are they identical?”

“No, she said fraternal.” 

“Oh, thank God,” Nicole breathed out with a snort. “Those freak me out.” 

Waverly rolled her eyes with a laugh. “Drama queen.”

“They do!” she defended. “So these ones better not look the same. I don’t wanna mix up my kids!”

“You won’t, Baby,” Waverly assured, rubbing her thumbs on her cheeks as she leaned down into a kiss.  _ “I’m  _ still trying to figure out  _ how  _ this happened personally.” 

“D’you got twins in your family?”

She shook her head. “I’ve never  _ heard  _ about any . . . I guess I might slip in a question when we call Julian in a bit. Maybe it’s on his side.”

“Why do we gotta call him?”

“Dr. Molina said we need to know about his family’s heart history and stuff. Same with Mama, I gotta call her, too.”

“We should probably get the donor papers and bring them with us then, yeah?” Nicole asked. 

She nodded. “I don’t remember it saying anything about heart stuff, but we can double-check.” 

“Alright.” Nicole pushed her hands back up Waverly’s shirt. “. . . I'm still not fully grasping this, I don't know when it's gonna hit." 

"Probably when you're holding two babies instead of one," Waverly said with a giggle. 

Nicole laughed, hugging her arms around her middle. “Imma be holdin’ all  _ three  _ of my babies.” Waverly giggled as she dropped her chin to her shoulder, but the smile slowly slipped from her face and she sat back. “What?” Nicole questioned.

“So . . . now we  _ do  _ need two rooms upstairs.”

Nicole blinked at her for a few seconds before pursing her lips. “Shit.”

“I guess we don’t need it yet, right? Like, one nursery and then they’re gonna share a room for a bit anyway.”

“Yeah . . . We can think about stuff later, I guess. One for now will work.” She smirked a little and wiggled her brows. “Looks like you’ve got extra work to do up there now.”

“Seems so,” Waverly said with a hum, knowing that Nicole and the boys had finally been able to move all of the gym stuff into the new room even though it apparently wasn’t completely done yet. She hadn’t done anything up in the soon to be nursery but stand in there and look around to try and figure out  _ what  _ she was going to do. 

Nicole smiled, taking one of her hands and spinning the ring on her finger. “Whatever you do is gonna be great anyway.” 

“I hope so,” Waverly mumbled, furrowing her brow a bit and tipping her head. “How the _hell_ are we gonna tell people this?”

Nicole shrugged. “Maybe at the gender reveal party.”

“Ooo,” Waverly said with a grin. “I’m putting Jessie in charge of that ‘cause she knows what one of them is already.”

“How?”

“She saw it I guess.” Waverly shrugged a bit. “I’m sure she won’t mind at all.” 

“Oh, definitely not,” Nicole chuckled. “The question is, though, what  _ are  _ we having?” She moved her hands back to her stomach. “Two girls, two boys, or both?”

“Hmm.” Waverly thought about it for a few seconds. “I’m thinking two girls.” 

“Really?” Nicole asked with a shake of her head in disapproval. “I dunno, I’m still getting dude energy, but not  _ two  _ dudes energy. I’m gonna go with one boy, one girl.” 

“You’re wrong,” she said with a roll of her eyes.

“We’re both probably wrong, it’s probably two boys,” Nicole said with a laugh.

“Oh, god, I don’t wanna be outnumbered. Two boys  _ and  _ MoMo and Dini?” 

Nicole let out a breath. “Too much testosterone.” 

Waverly laughed, shifting forward on her lap as she leaned against her. Her fingers traced the hem on her sleeve, and she felt Nicole running her fingers up her side. She raised her eyes a bit, tipping her head up against her shoulder to look at her. “So what was that meeting about? Had to be important, yeah?” Nicole’s jaw locked, and Waverly lifted her head with a furrowed brow. “What?”

She cleared her throat. “I, uh . . . They’ve been changing around some rules and stuff for us, so, uh . . .”

_ “What, _ Nic?” Waverly huffed with worry in her eyes. 

“I have to fly out to Ottawa for three weeks to do training. Me and Pearson both have to go.”

_ “Three weeks?”  _ Waverly asked with wide eyes. “To  _ what?”  _

“One week is classroom stuff, which includes all the new rules and regulations they’ve added since I was in academy, one week is field training, and the rest is like testing and all that. They’re trying to rid out the bad seeds to clean up the forces all around the country.”

“Why’s it just you two then?” 

“They’re just doing upper ranks right now, I guess,” she shrugged.

“And Pearson’s an upper rank?”

“He’s my only Sheriff’s Deputy. He’s basically my right-hand man right now, so yeah.” 

Waverly sighed, rubbing her hand across her forehead. “So when do you have to go?” Nicole looked away from her, and the color drained from her face.  _ “No.” _

She huffed. “I don’t have a  _ choice,  _ and I tried to tell the fucker, but-”

Waverly pushed off her lap and backed up from her. “Nicole, I’m having your _children_ at the end of May, and you’re telling me you’re gonna be on the other side of the _fucking country?!”_

Nicole stood up off the couch and walked towards her with her hands out. “Baby, I’ll figure it out, ok? There’s no  _ fucking  _ way I’m gonna go if it’s around your due date.”

Waverly shook her head. “Even if it’s  _ not,  _ you’re leaving for  _ three weeks  _ this summer _. Right  _ after I’m having them. You’re telling me I have to deal with not  _ one,  _ but  _ two  _ newborns  _ by myself?”  _

“You’re not gonna be by yourself,” Nicole said softly. “You can stay at the Homestead or the Ranch with Mama and Gus. I don’t  _ want  _ to do this, but I also  _ can’t  _ lose my job, and he said if I don’t go whenever my turn comes, I’m  _ immediately  _ stripped of my badge.” Waverly ran her hands down her face, turning and walking away from her as she muttered some things under her breath. Nicole huffed, moving towards her. “Wave, hey-”

She stuck a hand out. “Stop. I’m thinking.” 

Nicole stopped, pursing her lips. “Ok . . .”

Waverly moved her hands to her hips and looked at the floor as her brain racked thoughts over. She looked up after a few seconds, quickly pulling her phone out of her pocket as she slowly turned back around. Waverly raised her eyes to Nicole after a moment. “Ok. Twins come earlier than singletons normally, right? This says  _ 37  _ weeks is full-term, not 40 like normal.”

Nicole nodded a little. “Ok, then when’s your due date now?”

Waverly thought about it, doing the math in her head. “May 9th now, I guess. So . . . If you’re not going until at least the _end_ of May, we’ll probably be good.”

Nicole smiled, testingly stepping towards her. “See. It’ll be fine then.”

_ “Unless  _ I’m late. And we  _ know  _ that’s a high possibility.” 

Nicole swallowed a little. “. . . We’re just gonna hope you’re not. Ok? Three weeks is a long time to be late.”

Waverly let out a heavy breath, slowly nodding. “Yeah.” 

Nicole slid her hands up and down her arms, leaning down and pressing a kiss to her forehead. “We’ll be alright, Honey. I promise.” 

Waverly nodded, forcing herself to believe it. “You’ll never hear the end of it if it isn’t.” 

“Don't I know it,” she mumbled with a scared smile. “If nothing else . . . our Haught Pockets ain’t Geminis anymore.”

Waverly let out a relieved breath with a grin as she stood up on her toes to kiss her. “Thank  _ God.”  _

**12:58 PM**

Nicole’s leg bounced nervously as they sat in the waiting room in the hospital. They had tried to relax that morning before the appointment, but it had been pretty hard with all of the different weights they had stacked on their shoulders in one single day. Waverly seemed to be doing alright considering the circumstances, and Nicole was more than relieved about that. 

They had actually learned a lot with their calls with both Julian  _ and  _ Michelle. From Julian, they had learned that his entire family was known for having a large array of heart problems, all of which Waverly had written down. There weren't any twins that he knew of, though.

Michelle had been quick to point out that the Gibson’s had hearts like horses, so it had been a dead end there. Although she couldn’t give them anything  _ there,  _ Waverly was shocked to learn that her  _ grandmother  _ had a twin sister that had died almost right after she had been born because of problems with her umbilical cord. It was a family story that had been kept on the down-low, and that was why neither Michelle nor Gus had ever mentioned it to any of them.

So now they had officially found the final pieces of the puzzle that they had been missing.

And of course they were both from  _ her  _ side of the family, not the donor’s.

“Alright, Waverly, she’s ready for you,” one of the nurses said as she walked into the room. 

Waverly flicked her eyes to Nicole before standing up just as she did, following the nurse as she led them towards the cardiology wing of the hospital. She led them to a room with a bunch of different machines in it, and Waverly was seated up on the exam bed. “She’s on her way now down, so it’ll be any minute.” 

“Ok, thank you,” Waverly mumbled with a smile. 

And just like she had said, the doctor walked into the room less than a minute after the nurse had left. 

“Hi,” the beanpole of a woman with curly, auburn hair and thick-framed rose gold glasses said with a smile, shaking Nicole’s hand when she stood up to greet her. “Dr. Amanda Coghlan.”

“Sheriff Haught,” Nicole said with a smile.

She raised her brows at her with a grin. “And  _ you  _ are definitely not pregnant-” She flicked her eyes away from her as she moved around her towards Waverly. “So  _ you  _ must be the one with the double trouble, huh?” 

Waverly laughed with a nod, shaking her hand. “Sure am.” 

“Waverly, right?” Dr. Coghlan asked as she moved towards the counter by the wall and typed some things onto the desktop. 

“Yep.” 

“Great.” She looked back towards Nicole as she settled in the chair beside Waverly. “So you’re . . .?”

“Other mom,” Nicole answered with a raise of her brows. 

Dr. Coghlan looked up at them with a gasp.  _ “Oh my God,  _ my first lesbians.” Waverly and Nicole’s brows cocked as they blinked at her for a second, but she put her hand up with a little laugh. “Sorry, I’m just a raging pansexual tired of  _ boring  _ straight people.” 

They both laughed, both out of relief and because of what she had said. “I feel that on a spiritual level,” Nicole mumbled with a grin. 

Dr. Coghlan shook her head as she typed some more things on the computer. “I’ve been working around here for three years now and haven’t had  _ one  _ case without straight parents, it’s  _ tiring  _ sometimes.” She grabbed the rolly chair there and sat down, scooting herself in at the desk and turning towards them.  _ “Anyway.  _ So. Dr. Molina sent me all of your charts  _ and  _ the babies’ charts from today and ones from your other appointments. It took me a minute to get you guys in ‘cause I wanted to look over everything before I talked with ya.”

“Do you think it’s the thing she said she thought it was?” Waverly asked. 

“Fetal bradycardia?” she questioned, and Waverly nodded. “Right. So, uh, the thing with bradycardia is that it’s an umbrella term basically. All it tells me is that Baby B has an abnormally slow heart rate. There’s a bunch of different conditions that fall under the term, and  _ that  _ is what you’re here to figure out.” 

“Gotcha,” Nicole mumbled. “But, like, from what you’ve seen, is it gonna be . . . bad?” 

She pursed her lips a bit. “Well, put it this way. If it was  _ bad  _ bad, you would know it already because Dr. Molina would have noticed it.” Dr. Coghlan stood up out of her chair. “Plus, the baby looks fine right now, so it’s not like it’s truly affecting it to the point of other physical problems.” They both let out a breath of relief with that, and she walked over to a machine and pulled it over to the side of the bed. “First, we’re gonna do a fetal echocardiogram- EKG- same thing. It’s basically gonna send ultrasound waves at Baby B’s heart and build me an image of it to look at while I’m also listening to the heartbeat. I’ll be able to look for, like, deformities and parts that aren’t working right, things like that.” 

“Alright. Makes sense,” Waverly said with a nod as she scooted back on the bed and pulled her shirt up. 

She smiled, grabbing the bottle of gel and raising her brows at her. “This is cold, so . . . brace yourself.”

Waverly nodded with a little laugh, but she sucked in a quick breath the second the cold liquid touched her stomach.  _ “Oh.”  _

She chuckled a little. “Told ya.” She flipped the machine on and clicked a few buttons. “Usually we have sonographers do this, but there’s more I need to know from ya, so I’m just gonna do it.” 

“Whatever you need,” Waverly sighed, relaxing back against the bed and looking towards Nicole when she scooted closer to her and dropped her hands on top of one of her own. 

“Baby B is up here, right?” Dr. Coghlan questioned as she touched the middle area of her stomach. 

“Yeah. The other one’s down here,” Waverly said as she touched the bottom of her abdomen. 

“Gotcha.” She grabbed the transducer and started the EKG process, immediately diving into questions about her family’s heart history that Dr. Molina had already gotten them to search into. Waverly gave her a brief description about everything that Julian had said, but she also made sure to tell her that she had written everything down for her, too. 

Dr. Coghlan leaned towards the screen after she had pressed a button, and Nicole rubbed her thumb over Waverly’s hand as they both looked at the heart as it beat on the screen, now also hearing it as it did so.

“M’kay, so.” They both looked towards the doctor. “So I can definitely say that this is a form of sinus bradycardia. It’s one of the different forms of it- actually the  _ least  _ concerning form compared to some of the other ones. It basically means that while the heart rate  _ is  _ slow, the rate is consistent with the sinus rhythm.” She pointed to the screen at the first little bump that was before every large spike on the heart rate. “That’s this part here.” 

Waverly nodded in understanding. “And then there’s different forms of  _ that  _ kind of bradycardia or whatever, too?”

“Right,” Dr. Coghlan confirmed. “And they’re pretty easy to rule out, too. One of them means the heart rate isn’t consistent over time, and we can obviously tell most of this is consistent. Another kind means it comes out of nowhere and the baby is in distress, but that’s usually during the third trimester  _ plus  _ Baby’s  _ not  _ in distress, so it’s not that. Another means the sinus node isn’t in the right spot and I can see that it is here . . .”

“So what’s that leave?” Waverly asked.

“Well . . . I think our highest contender right now is Long QT syndrome.”

They both raised their brows at her. “What’s that one do?” Nicole questioned.

“Well, this one is the most  _ complicated  _ form. Technically we’re not allowed to make the diagnosis until a postnatal scan, but I’m just gonna tell you that I’m 99.999% sure that’s what this is.” She pointed to the EKG graph of the heartbeat on the screen. “You see this bit here?” She circled her finger around a set of the long spike that was followed by a shorter one.

“Yeah,” they both mumbled.

“So this is the QT interval right here. And in the  _ normal  _ fetal heartbeat, it should take about  _ half  _ as long to perform that action.”

“So hence the  _ Long  _ QT Syndrome part,” Waverly said in understanding. “It’s longer than normal.”

“Exactly, right.”

“So . . . What’s that mean for the baby?”

“This syndrome means that the repolarization- which is when the heart goes back to its resting state after it fires for a beat- it’s not doing that quick enough, so it’s slowing down how fast the heart can beat again ‘cause it’s basically not ready yet when it needs to be. Does that make sense?” They both nodded in understanding. “One of the  _ main  _ risks with this is Torsades de Pointes.”

“Twists of Points?” Waverly questioned with a furrowed brow, having recognized it as a French term.

“Basically, yeah,” Dr. Coghlan confirmed. “It’s, uh, it’s a pretty severe heart arrhythmia. When I explain it, I usually just sum it up as the ventricles in the lower half of the heart getting ticked off at the atrias in the upper part of the heart for going so slow, so the ventricles start going really fast, which makes it out of sync with what the atria is doing. It’s called ventricular fibrillation, which, uh, which usually leads to cardiac arrest.”

Waverly swallowed hard, looking towards the baby on the screen. “Does- Does that  _ always  _ happen with the LQTS or whatever it’s called?”

She shook her head with an assuring smile. “No, not always. Some people with LQTS don’t even know they have it because it doesn’t really affect them.” 

They both let out a breath of relief, and Waverly gave Nicole’s hand a squeeze. Nicole furrowed her brows a bit as she tipped her head. “I figure the twisty point thing isn’t the  _ only  _ symptom, right?”

She shook her head. “There’s also the chance of fainting, seizures, and heart palpitations. Those are usually only possible if there’s a heart arrhythmia, though, and like you see here, while the heart rate is  _ abnormal,  _ it’s not severe enough to be called an arrhythmia.” 

“What  _ can  _ make it get to that point?” Waverly asked. “Like, could it just happen or are things to prevent that?”

Dr. Coghlan shifted the transducer up her stomach to get a different angle of the heart as the scan continued. “Well. This syndrome is caused by a faulty gene, and in LQTS, there’s different, uh,  _ mutations  _ of the faulty gene. And with those genes, there are different things that you can do to prevent more problems. ”

Waverly let out a heavy breath. “So it’s Bradycardia, but Sinus Bradycardia, but Long QT Syndrome, but  _ another  _ term to tack on?” 

“Technically two more,” Dr. Coghlan mumbled. 

_ “What?”  _

“Yeah. So the main mutations are Jervell and Lange-Nielsen Syndrome and Romano-Ward Syndrome. I’m gonna have to look at my charts when I go through these scans to see which one it is, but after I do that, I’ll be able to tell what subtype the gene mutation is.”

Nicole raised a brow. “So we’re not gonna have to get any DNA tests or anything to tell? You can just . . . look at it?” 

“Right,” she confirmed. “It all depends on how the things are moving as the heartbeats and stuff- things I really don’t need to explain.” She shifted the transducer again to gather more of the image. “I  _ will  _ explain both of the mutations, though.” They both nodded, so she continued. “Romano-Ward Syndrome is the more common one because it’s the dominant trait. This is the one that  _ just  _ deals with the heart, nothing else really-”

“Wait, the other has more problems?” Nicole questioned, and Waverly threw her a look that told her to be patient.

“Yeah. I’ll get to that,” Dr. Coghlan confirmed. “So RWS affects the genes for the proteins that transport charged particles around the heart, and these proteins that have abnormalities interfere with some of the electrical signals in those particles, and that’s why the heart takes longer to beat.”

“Gotcha,” Waverly mumbled. 

“So since that one is the dominant trait, Jervell and Lange-Nielsen Syndrome is the recessive one. And this one affects both the heart  _ and  _ usually results in deafness as well.” 

“Really?” Waverly asked with wide eyes. “How’s that even connected?”

Dr. Coghlan sighed with a shake of her head. “It’s all with the abnormal genes and the proteins that they affect . . . And with this one, it’s more severe with what they do. Without proper treatment with medications and sometimes even pacemakers, 50% of patients will experience some kind of arrhythmia before the age of three.”

Nicole slowly leaned back in her chair, blowing out a puff of air as she locked her hands behind her head. “What’s it when you  _ do  _ treat it?” 

“Like I said, this one is the recessive trait, so it’s a lot rarer than the other one. But, uh . . . 90% of people with JLNS experience some kind of arrhythmia in their lives.” 

“What percent do with the other?” Waverly asked with wide eyes.

“Well, 1 in 7,000 people either have or develop RWS, so the percent isn’t as high anyway because the numbers are so skewed in comparison with the other." 

"So it's not that rare really," Nicole mumbled. 

"Not  _ insanely  _ rare, no," Dr. Coghlan confirmed. "Ok, so once I finish this, you guys are gonna go chill in the waiting room again while I look it all over. If I need to talk with the pediatric cardiologist about it, I will, but, uh, it should take me about an hour to review everything after looking through your family medical history.” She nodded towards the notebook with things Waverly had written in about both her and the donor’s history. “I know you told me most of it, but I’m still gonna look it over just to be sure everything’s what we think it is.”

They both nodded in agreement with the game plan before glancing towards one another. It didn’t take a whole lot longer for her to finish the scan. Waverly wiped all the goop off her stomach before rolling off the bed and taking Nicole’s hand to head back to the waiting room. 

**1:52 PM**

The wait for Dr. Coghlan had probably been the  _ most  _ nerve-wracking thing either of them had ever been through. The stress of everything from the day  _ plus  _ everything the doctor had said were possibilities was too much for Waverly, and she had found herself in the bathroom not too long after they had sat down. 

Nicole had found a vending machine and grabbed the red Gatorade she had asked for, getting her to sip some of it and letting it settle before they left the bathroom and headed back to the waiting room. 

Waverly was still nauseous and horrified, not much had changed with that. Nicole was just as horrified as she was, no more, no less, so together, they were one big horrified mess waiting for the doctor to figure out what the  _ hell  _ was wrong with their child. 

Waverly lifted her head from Nicole’s shoulder when she saw auburn curls pop around the corner, and Dr. Coghlan gave them a smile. “Alright, let’s go.” 

Nicole stood up and let out a raspberry, wiping her sweaty palms off on her jeans before holding her hands out to Waverly to help her up. “You ok?” Nicole asked softly when she stood. 

She nodded but didn’t say anything, grabbing her hand and pulling her along to follow the doctor as she walked them back to the cardiology wing of the hospital. Dr. Coghlan led them to her office, and they both sat in front of her desk as she clicked around on her computer. 

She glanced up after a few seconds, flicking her eyes between them. “Ok . . .-” Her brows furrowed a bit when they stopped on Waverly. “Are you alright?”

She nodded, leaning back in her chair with a clear of her throat. “I’m fine.” Nicole's face was filled with worry as she slid her hand across her thigh with a squeeze. 

Dr. Coghlan decided to brush off the look on her face as just worry, speeding up the explanation process a bit. “Alright then. So. I reviewed your scans and did everything else I told you I was gonna do . . . After consulting with the leading Peds cardiologist here, we both agreed that this  _ isn’t  _ Jervell and Lange-Nielsen Syndrome.” 

They both let out small breaths of relief, and Nicole raised her brows. “So it’s the other one then?” 

She nodded. “Romano-Ward Syndrome, yes.” 

“And you said there’s another level under that, right? Something about the risk factors or something?” 

“I did, yes. There’s about 16, give or take, different mutation subtypes, but the most common are the first three. I call them The Running Stop, Fright or Flight, and Dead Asleep.” They both blinked at her in confusion, but she was already continuing with the explanation. “The Running Stop, LQTS 1, is the most  _ common.  _ It means that heavy exercise and stress are most likely to be the cause of severe arrhythmias. Fright or Flight, LQTS 2, is the second most common. It means that loud noises and scares, basically anything that makes you jump, can cause severe arrhythmias. And while LQTS 1 can cause faints a whole lot more, LQTS 2 is more likely to bring more deadly arrhythmias if they happen. And the last one, Dead Asleep, LQTS 3, is the least common out of the three. It brings these more severe arrhythmias usually during sleep or right after someone wakes up. So it’s kinda the . . . scariest out of the three, I would say.” Dr. Coghlan clicked around on her computer before turning the monitor towards them. “So here’s the comparison of Baby B’s EKG next to samples of all of those three subtype’s EKG.” 

“Looks most like the second one,” Waverly mumbled after wiping her eyes and leaning forward to look at it, and Nicole nodded in agreement, giving her hand a squeeze when she grabbed it. 

“Yeah, we decided on that, too.” 

“So, like . . . the baby can’t get scared?” Nicole asked with a bit of confusion. 

Dr. Coghlan tipped her head a bit as she leaned her elbows on her desk. “I mean, sometimes with life you can’t really help that. Especially with  _ baby  _ babies. They get spooked by a lot of things. But, uh, as they get older, it’ll be easier to keep them from it. Limits on scary shows or movies, no alarm clocks, things like that.” She put a hand up. “When I’m saying all of this, I’m not saying it’s gonna be a  _ humongous  _ set-back in your everyday lives. It's more of an if you can prevent it, do. And like I said, some people don’t even  _ know  _ they’re living with this condition because they never have problems. We don’t really know if the baby’s condition is gonna progress or anything like that, but still.  _ Right now,  _ it’s not hurting the baby, and maybe it never will. But we  _ do  _ know it’s there already, so we’re gonna keep an eye on it either way.”

“Ok,” Waverly breathed out, glancing towards Nicole and getting a soft, assuring smile. “I think we can handle that.”

Dr. Coghlan chuckled with a nod. “I think you can, too.” She stood up out of her chair and walked around her desk, leaning back against it as she grabbed her prescription pad. “What we’re gonna do is get you to pick up a portable fetal doppler. Basically what you’re gonna do is be listening to Baby’s heartbeat four times throughout a day. Once right after you wake up, once at about midday, once before you go to bed, and then you’re gonna set an alarm for about halfway through the night to wake up and check.”

“I thought alarms were bad,” Waverly said with a furrowed brow. “‘Cause I know they can still hear things in there.”

“I mean, if it’s a softer one, it’s fine. It just probably isn’t good for it to be one with a bunch of blaring beeps.” 

“Ok, fair,” Waverly mumbled. “So, like, the doppler thing is just gonna be like a mini EKG kinda?” 

She nodded. “I’m gonna make sure the one you’re getting is one that shows both the estimated BPMs  _ and  _ the graph on the screen that way you can look at it, knowing what it should be looking like.” She handed her the prescription paper and grabbed a folder off her desk. “I printed out a bunch of info for you guys to read through. One of the sheets is for you to compare the heartbeat to. It’s got a couple of different pictures on there, even one of what their heartbeat looked like today.”

Nicole took it and flipped through it for a second, finding the page she was talking about. “And if it doesn’t look like what it should . . . ?”

“You’re gonna take a picture of it, text it to me, and then head straight to Dr. Molina’s since it’s closest.” She handed her a card with her information on it. “I wrote my cell number at the bottom.” 

Dr. Coghlan answered a few more of their questions, and once she was sure that they were crystal clear with what was going on  _ and  _ that they weren’t freaking out as much anymore, she sent them on their merry way. 

Of course they were both scared and worried about it all. They  _ had  _ to be. What brought their fears down the most, though, was the fact that they were informed and prepared. They knew the  _ exact  _ facts about the condition and also the instructions on what they needed to be doing at all times in 99% of the situations they could run into, so they were only now looking forward to what they could only hope was a brighter future. 

One that was free of worrisome heart problems for their baby.

After stopping by the pharmacy and finding the doppler Dr. Coghlan had prescribed, they made their way home for the day. Waverly changed into one of Nicole’s hoodies and some leggings, and Nicole traded out her jeans for sweatpants, hanging her jacket back up on the hook by the door.

“You wanna mess with the thingy?” Nicole questioned as she walked into the living room, seeing Waverly laying on the couch with a Dini on her chest and the folder in her lap as she read through it. 

She looked up at her, glancing towards the unopened box on the table with a sigh. “Yeah.”

“Alright.” Nicole sat down when she pulled her feet in, grabbing the box and dragging the coffee table closer to her as she opened it up. She loaded the batteries into it and turned it on, smiling a little as she grabbed Houdini and flipped him over. “Does Dini gots him a heartbeat?” She pressed the tiny transducer against his upper chest and moved it down more in the direction of the faint thumping sound, turning the volume up on the machine and grinning when his heart rate popped up clearly. “Look at that.” 

Waverly laughed a little, lifting the dog and pressing a kiss to his face. _“Ha ha,_ Momma found your heart.” He licked her cheek and she smiled, setting him back down on the couch.

“D’you want me to do it or do you wanna do it?”

“You try to find the bottom baby, I’ll find the top one.” Waverly sat back against the arm of the couch, handing her the tube of ultrasound gel that the doppler came with. 

“We gotta listen to Haught Pocket number one ‘cause we been ignorin’ you all day long being worried about your wombmate.”

_ “Wombmate,  _ oh my  _ God.”  _

“That’s what they are!” Nicole argued with a smile, pressing a kiss to her stomach after she pushed her shirt up before squirting some of the gel onto the lowest point. “Ok, the directions said  _ don’t  _ rub it in, just use the thingy to push the gel stuff around.”

Waverly tried to relax her body, watching Nicole as she pressed the transducer against her lower abdomen and slowly began to move it around how the directions were telling her to. “It said it might take a bit to find it since they’re both so small.”

“Yeah,” Nicole mumbled softly through her concentration. “We’re patient, though.” 

Waverly laughed a little at one of the noises that came through the speaker, and Nicole looked up at her. “They just moved, I felt it.” 

“Is that what that was?” she asked with a grin.

“Yeah,” Waverly grinned, grabbing her hand and guiding it more towards the left where she had felt the movement. “Thereish, I think.” 

It took another minute of searching, but Nicole eventually began to pick up on a heartbeat from Baby A.  _ “There  _ we go,” she breathed out with a smile, pointing the screen in the direction where they both could see it.

“Such a pretty noise,” Waverly mumbled with a smile.

“Mhm,” Nicole hummed in agreement, looking towards the heartbeat sheet when Waverly grabbed it. “So I guess that is faster than the other one.”

“Yeah,” Waverly said as she looked down at the paper, comparing it to the graph for the other twin’s heart. “I’m just . . . I’m just not gonna be super concerned about it. She said it’s not hurting them in any way, it’s just something we need to keep an eye on.”

Nicole nodded in agreement. “Like, yeah, it’s gonna be on the back of my mind, but I don’t think we need to be shitting ourselves over it.”

Waverly shook her head. “Definitely not . . . I still probably _ will,  _ but it’s ok. I know Haught Pocket’s alright, that’s all that matters.” She reached for the doppler. “Say bye to that one.” 

Nicole let out a breathy laugh, shaking her head around a bit as she handed it over. “God, we’ve got  _ two, _ that’s nuts.” 

“I know, right?” Waverly said with a little giggle, pausing for a second as she waited for some movement to stop. “I think I can tell the difference between them, too.”

“Really?” Nicole asked with a grin. 

“Yeah,” she said as she squirted a little more ultrasound gel near where she had just felt the movement. “‘Cause there’s no way this one could have moved up here where I just felt this.” Waverly pressed the transducer against her stomach, taking a few minutes to search around before she finally found the heartbeat. “Hi, there!” 

Nicole chuckled, dropping her hand to the side of her stomach and gently rubbing it with her thumb. “You’ve literally got _three_ heartbeats.” 

Waverly shook her head, grabbing the paper and comparing the screen with the graph. “I’ve just got two humans and one me.” 

_ “Two humans,”  _ Nicole breathed out. 

“Crazy, isn’t it?” Waverly said as she pulled the transducer away from her stomach. 

_ “Very,”  _ Nicole mumbled, reaching for the washcloth she had grabbed from the kitchen before coming in and wiping the gel off her stomach. “Two babies . . . two birthdays . . . two Sweet 16s . . . two college funds . . . two  _ babies.”  _

Waverly rolled her eyes, smacking her arm. “We’re fine.” 

“You say that now,” she mumbled with a little smirk. “Wait until you put one down for the night and the other starts crying, and then you put that one down and the other starts crying, and then you-” 

Waverly pushed a finger against her lips, hushing her. “I don’t want to think about that.”

“But-”

_ “Shh.”  _

Nicole laughed, leaning back against the couch with her hands up. “I’m just being realistic, Wave.”

Waverly sat up and crawled over to her, straddling her lap and squishing her face with her hands on her cheeks. “And  _ I  _ want to think about how, right here, right now, I’ve got my  _ three  _ favorite babies.”

“Am I one?” Nicole asked despite how her face was smushed. 

She smiled with a nod, leaning forward and dropping a soft kiss to her lips. “You are one, yes.” Waverly let go of her face, leaning over and grabbing the doppler off of the couch cushion beside them. She flipped it on, hooking the hem of Nicole’s shirt with her pointer finger and pulling it down, pressing the transducer against her chest. Thumping sounded from the speakers, and Waverly smiled softly, leaning forward to press their foreheads together. She was going to say something, but her eyes dropped to the doppler when she heard how her heart had sped up. “Aw, do I make your heart race?”

Nicole rolled her eyes with a blush, dropping her hands to her hips with a squeeze. “My heart beats just for you, Baby, you know that.” 

Waverly pouted her lip, setting the doppler down and letting her hand slide up her chest to rest over her heart. “Stop it,” she mumbled.

“Stop what?” she asked with a laugh, pulling her as close as her bump would allow.

“Being cute,” Waverly said through a whine. “It makes me soft.” 

Nicole shook her head, leaning into a quick kiss.  _ “You’re _ the cute one, Sweetheart.” Waverly shook her head with a smile. “That’s why if you ain’t make my babies cute as all hell, I’m throwin’ ‘em to the wolves.” 

“Oh, no, you will  _ not!”  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I put a shit ton of research into this chap so hopefully i didn't fuck it up lol
> 
> but GURL TWINSSSSS???????
> 
> Yes, I know it's a common trope to have twins in fics bUT YOU KNOW WHAT? I'M A TWIN AND THAT'S WHY  
> I know how we work cuz I've got that first-hand experience so y'ALL BEST WATCH OUT  
> Haught Pocket x 2 is on the way  
> ...let's hope Baby B's heart doesn't get in the way of things 😬


	13. I’ll Give You a Dollar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A magical surprise for Nicole, then some car business, then Waverly marries Doc?  
> OH! And the gender reveal party you all have been waiting for!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ALRIGHT EVERYBODY STOP! DON'T READ YET! LOOK!  
> I don't care if you have NEVER commented on a fic in your entire life or if you comment every chapter, I want ALL of you to quickly scroll down to the comments and comment what you think the babies are gonna be. You won't get spoiled, I promise. Just do it! I forgot to ask at the end of last chapter, and I really wanna know what the consensus is. Don't read through the other comments until after you're already done that way you don't see anyone saying anything, just comment your own guess.
> 
> Everyone commented?  
> No?  
> GO COMMENT!  
> NOW have we all commented?  
> Yay!
> 
> Well, Happy Valentine's day, y'all! Hopefully you guys had a good day today even if you don't have a special someone. I spent my V Day finishing up this chapter for y'all, and it's almost 10k words!  
> This chap was a lot of fun to write especially cuz it's all fluff  
> me? writing fluff? I know, it's unheard of.  
> Anyway, I know y'all are dying to get started, so have at it!

**Friday, January 22nd, 2021 3:21 PM**

Nicole typed away at her computer, emailing back one of the upper  _ upper  _ ranks of the Canadian police force. She was still trying to get things moved around despite the fact that they were about 90% certain that she wasn’t going to miss the twins being born when she had to fly out to Ottawa. She still was really hoping to get a date later in the summer in hopes of being able to stay home through their  _ newborn  _ days. 

Things had been a bit weird over the past two weeks. They now realized that hiding the fact that there were  _ two  _ babies from everyone was a million times harder than it was to hide that there was even a baby at all. They had to watch what words they used and the things that people saw when they were in their home. So far, no one had found out, though, but they were still  _ more  _ than relieved that their gender reveal party was only two days away.

Not only would the big secret be out, but they’d also finally know what the hell they were having.

Neither of them cared as to what the twins were. They were their Haught Pockets no matter what. As long as they were healthy for the most part, they were smooth sailing.

Not so secretly, though, Waverly’s girl/girl and Nicole’s boy/girl speculations had turned into a rivalry between them now, and they were  _ very  _ excited to see who was right if either of them even were at all.

Nicole’s head snapped from her computer screen at the knock on the door, and her brow furrowed when the door only opened a crack.

Her eyes bulged from her head with a goofy grin when she saw her little Houdini run into the room with a leash dangling behind him. 

_ “Dini,”  _ Nicole cooed as she slipped off her chair onto her knees. “C’mere, my favorite boy.” He jumped up at her and wiggled around in front of her as she gave him  _ all  _ the lovin’s in the world. “How’d you get here, Mister?” 

Nicole glanced up when the door opened the rest of the way, and Waverly walked in with a grin, closing the door behind her. “Hi, Honey.”

Nicole gasped softly as she looked down at the dachshund she now was holding like a baby in her arms. “D’you go bye-bye with Mommy?” He yapped and pawed at her face, and she smiled wide, leaning her head down so he could lick her. 

Waverly giggled, walking over and bending down to press a kiss to her lips. “He did.” 

“Mm.” Nicole slowly pushed to her feet to follow Waverly’s lips as she stood up straight, and she looped her arm around her waist to pull her closer as she kissed her some more. “Hey, Darlin’.” 

Waverly dropped her hand to her chest, slowly sliding it down a bit before pulling back from her and cupping her hands over Houdini’s ears that were two times too big for him. “Don’t do your sexy voice in front of our son.” 

“My  _ sexy  _ voice?” Nicole questioned with a brow raised in offense. “Baby, my voice is  _ always  _ sexy.” 

Waverly rolled her eyes with a shake of her head. “You know what I mean.” 

“Well,  _ apparently, _ I don’t.” 

“You do, too,” she said with a scoff, pulling the dog from her arms and walking over to the couch. “You drop it lower and buff up your Dallas.”

Nicole laughed, grabbing the back of her rolly chair and pulling it with her as she walked over to the couch, sitting down in it when she stopped in front of Waverly. “I didn’t realize my  _ Dallas  _ got you goin’.” 

Waverly threw her a look. “Now that’s not true.”

“You’re right, it’s not true.” 

Waverly rolled her eyes, leaning back against the couch to take some of the pressure off of her pained lower back. “Thought so.” Houdini crawled up her front, and she let out a groan, lifting him up a bit and pulling him closer to get his stabby feet off her stomach.  _ “Ow.”  _

“Dini, be  _ gentle  _ with the Haught Pockets,” Nicole scolded softly as she ran her hand over her bump. 

“Him is just excited he got to hang out with Henry and now that he gets to see Momma at work.” 

Chrissy, Waverly, and Jessie had now started a tradition of going on walks every Friday when Waverly got off work on days when the weather was decent. Neither of the girls were working at that time, so it was perfect for them all to hang out and catch up. 

AKA, time for Waverly to complain about Nicole, Wynonna, and her students, Chrissy to complain about Perry, her mother, and Nedley, and Jessie to complain about Topher, her job, and her child. 

Of course, they each brought their babies. Jessie brought Auggie, Chrissy brought her Yorkie, Henry, and Waverly brought Houdini.

Waverly and Jessie had a  _ great  _ time being subliminal about the whole twins thing. Chrissy was pretty oblivious to life, so they were able to go  _ pretty  _ hard with the hints and wordage that they used at certain times with her being none the wiser about it. 

Nicole smiled, grabbing the dog before he could use Waverly’s stomach as another catwalk and pulling him into her arms, sitting his butt down on the chair in between her legs and letting him lean back against her. “You guys had a good time, huh?” 

“Yes, we did,” Waverly cooed as she gave his belly a pat. “Somebody made Mommy run when he chased a bird, though.”

“Oo,” Nicole said through a laugh. “Dini, do that when I’m around, I’d love to see that.” 

“I’m gonna kick his ass if he makes me do that again,” she grumbled. 

Nicole chuckled, looking down at him as she gently ran her thumb up and down the side of his face. “So. Why the visit anyway?”

Waverly shrugged, “I dunno, I missed you.”

“We saw each other only like four or five hours ago at lunch,” Nicole mumbled.

“That doesn’t mean I don’t miss you,” Waverly said with a pouty lip before dropping her hand to her stomach. “Besides, they get excited when they hear you, and it makes me happy.” 

“Really?” Nicole asked with a soft smile. 

She nodded, grabbing her hands and letting it rest on her stomach just in case she felt a kick anytime soon. “They recognize your voice. That’s the only way I can explain it. Anyone else, there’s nothing. But when you’re talking? They start moving.”

Nicole grinned, setting Houdini on the floor so he could sniff around the room and leaning towards Waverly’s stomach. “Hi, Haught Pockets . . . D’you two have a good day today?”

Waverly smiled softly, leaning her head back against the arm of the couch and gently pushing her fingers through Nicole’s hair while she talked to the twins for a few minutes. 

Waverly’s ears  _ did  _ tune back in and pick up on a familiar word though.

_ Car.  _

“Mommy and Momma are goin’ car shopping tomorrow that way we have something to shove you in when you get here . . .  _ I’m  _ excited, but Mommy’s not so excited ‘cause she’s the one that did all the work looking into what we’re getting.”

“I want the  _ safest  _ SUV there is,” she grumbled. 

Waverly truly wasn’t excited about the whole car shopping fiasco. They had already known since day one after talking about the whole pregnancy thing that they were going to need an  _ actual  _ car. Nicole had her Tahoe, but they were  _ not  _ putting babies in a cop car. They also had the Lambo and the Corvette, but those were two-seaters, so they wouldn’t work either. Waverly had turned down the sidecar option for the Harley  _ so  _ fast. And her Jeep was also just a two-seater. 

Even if any of them  _ could  _ fit all four of them at once, they still needed a new car.

And well, they had narrowed it down to two different eight-seater SUVs.

It was either going to be a Hyundai Palisade or a Subaru Ascent.

Their logic was that this car was going to grow with them, and that meant that there was  _ most likely  _ going to be friends of the kids to haul around in the future or members of the family that they were carpooling with, so a five-seater SUV just wasn’t going to cut it since they would already be taking up four of the five seats. Their two options were  _ also  _ some of the safest models that Waverly had found in their price range, so it was a win-win. 

Speaking of price range . . .

It was strange that technically  _ this  _ was going to be their first  _ major  _ purchase in their entire four years, 10 months, and one week of being together. Nicole had already had the house, so they hadn’t gotten to do that part together, and Nicole had gotten the Tahoe behind her back, so that had been her own thing to deal with. Sure, there was the house addition, too, but Waverly was  _ also  _ leaving that all up to Nicole, and she didn’t want to know  _ how  _ much money she was pulling out of Liz’s money to do that.

But this was a lot of money that they were going to be putting into something  _ together  _ for the first time. They weren’t using Liz’s money or anything either, it was all going to be their savings for the payments and everything else that went into it. Despite how stressful the process was, they were both pretty excited for the end result and the meaning that was behind it.

Nicole let out a sigh and lifted her head from her stomach, giving her hand a squeeze with an assuring smile. “I told you already, you’re getting the final pick.”

Waverly raised her brows at her. “Oh, trust me, I know I am,” she assured. 

**4:05 PM**

Waverly stood up on her toes as she reached up to paint the trim on top of the doorframe in the nursery. She was finally finishing up with the painting of the entire thing. The ceiling, walls, and baseboards were done, so now she just had to do the door trims and some shelves and stuff that Doc and Dolls had helped her build and put up. 

She was absolutely  _ thrilled  _ with how everything was coming together. She had been spending  _ a lot  _ of time up there over the past few weeks.

And  _ a lot _ meant any moment that she didn’t have anything better to do, she was up there working. There had been a few times where Nicole had to threaten to come up there and drag her to bed because she had gotten so lost in the process. 

Waverly chewed her lip as she pressed her hand against the wall beside her as she stretched up high as hell to get to the top of the freakishly tall door frame that was like the rest all over the house. She didn’t know  _ why  _ there was a need for them to be that tall, but hey, if she was gonna be popping out some future giants, maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing. 

“Miss Waverly-” 

The door pushed open, and Waverly stumbled back after getting a doorknob to the stomach. “Jeez, Doc,” she breathed out, looking up at his pale face as he pulled his hat off. 

“Are you alright?” he questioned softly, stepping into the room and gently dropping his hand over where Waverly’s was on her bump. “I hadn’t a clue you were standin’ there.”

She nodded, sliding her hand out from under his and giving it a squeeze. “I’m fine, it wasn’t that hard.” He nodded after letting out a small breath of relief. “What is it you needed?” she asked as she set her paintbrush on the paint tray on the ground. 

He dropped his hat back on his head, turning and jutting his thumb towards the door. “There’s some delivery folk at the door for ya. I didn’t know if ya wanted me to handle ‘em or not, but I corralled the pets into your room for ya.” 

Waverly’s eyes lit up, and she let out a squeal with a happy clap. “More baby stuff!” 

Doc followed her as she ran down the stairs at an alarming rate, and he slowly made his way over towards the door after she opened it. The younger, tall man with fluffy brown hair and kind eyes was shaking Waverly’s hand, but Doc’s eyes slowly narrowed when he saw the bald older man with scruffy grey facial hair leaning around the other man to get a view of Waverly.

“We’ve got nine different items in the truck for ya,” the younger man said as he handed her a signature pad. “All we need is your signature since the cost of it all’s over our drop-off limit.”

“Gotcha,” Waverly said as she scribbled her name down before handing it back over. 

He tucked it under his arm and turned his head, nodding towards the large delivery truck that was parked in front of the house. “I, uh, I thought that was baby stuff we had back there.” His eyes flicked down to her bump before he met her eyes again. “Congrats.”

“Aw, thank you,” she mumbled as she slid her hand down her stomach. “Yeah, me and my-”

Doc dropped a hand to her arm, pulling her into his side and meeting her eyes when she looked up at him. “We’re  _ super  _ excited, ain’t that right, Darlin’?”

Waverly blinked at him for a moment before catching whatever his drift was and slipping her arm around his middle. “We are.”

Doc gave her a squeeze before releasing her, flicking his eyes up to the older man who was now looking anywhere  _ but  _ Waverly. “Now, gentlemen, I’d be more than happy to lend ya a hand.”

The younger man nodded and waved him along, and Doc went to follow as they headed towards the truck, but Waverly grabbed his arm before he could leave. “What the hell was that for?”

“It seems that old geezer wants a piece of ya, so pardon me, but I don’t appreciate his eyes all over ya like that, and I’m  _ damn  _ sure Nicole wouldn’t either.”

Waverly’s eyes widened, and she looked towards the old one, watching as the two delivery men were pushing the door on the back of the truck open. She scrunched her face as she looked back up at Doc.  _ “Ew.”  _

“Ew, indeed,” Doc mumbled. “Just go along ‘til they’re on their merry way.”

“Alright,” she sighed, flashing a doe-eyed smile. “Go on, Honey.” 

His lip twitched up in a grin, and he tipped his hat to shield a blush before making his way out the door, and Waverly giggled with a roll of her eyes, stepping outside and crossing her sleeved arms to warm herself a bit in the cold. She watched as the three unloaded everything out of the truck, and her eyes slowly widened in realization. 

There  _ were  _ nine items in the truck, but technically there was only five different things.

Because there were two of everything, of course. 

Two cribs. Two high chairs. Two baby swings. Two car seats. And a  _ two-seat  _ stroller.

“Oh  _ shit.”  _

Waverly quickly rushed off the porch towards them, watching as Doc stepped back from the truck and rubbed his hand up and down the side of his face as he tipped his head. “Doc . . .”

He looked towards her with furrowed brows. “Has there been a mistake here or did I pick up some funky cigarillos?” 

She shook her head, pressing both hands against his stomach to back him down the sidewalk a few steps out of earshot from the delivery men. “It’s . . . neither. That’s the right order.” 

His brows stayed furrowed as he looked back at the boxes they were unloading onto the sidewalk for a few seconds before his entire face softened. Waverly smiled a little when she saw that it hit, and Doc pulled his hat off and covered his heart with it. “You’re havin’  _ twins, _ ain’t ya?”

“Yeah,” she mumbled, watching his eyes fall to her stomach. 

He looked back up at her with a wide grin, quickly pulling her into a hug. “Great God almighty,” he breathed out, pulling back and dropping his hands to her shoulders. “That’s  _ wonderful.”  _ He shook his head around. “But I truly had no idea.” 

Waverly shook her head with a little laugh. “Trust me, we didn’t either. We didn’t know until a couple of days after Nicole’s birthday.” 

“Wow,” he mumbled. “Does- I reckon nobody knows besides the two of ya, right?” 

Her eyes widened with a nod, and she quickly pushed a finger to his lips. “And you will not say a _word_ until after the gender reveal on Sunday, or I _swear_ to you, John Henry, I’ll chop off _your_ twins.”

His body tensed, and he nodded quickly. “I know none the wiser.”

She smiled, standing up on her toes to press a peck to his cheek. “Thank you. Now come help me put some baby stuff together before Nicole gets home.” 

**Saturday, January 23rd, 2021 10:47 AM**

“You almost ready, Babe?” Nicole questioned as she walked towards the bedroom where Waverly was. 

“Coming,” Waverly called back, grabbing her phone off the charger and shoving it into her purse before heading out of their room.

Nicole flicked her eyes up and down her body, and she grinned a bit as she stopped her, sliding her hands down to the sides of Waverly's thighs and back to her ass over the ripped blue skinny jeans that Nicole had no idea she could still fit into.  _ “Damn.” _

“Perv.”

“Mm, you’re just sexy,” Nicole muttered as she leaned into a kiss.

Waverly rolled her eyes, tugging roughly at the front of her custom Ranger’s jersey. “Shut up, you’re just trying to get on my good side so I pick the car you want.”

Nicole hummed against her lips. “. . . Maybe.”

Waverly pushed her away. “It’s wasn’t working, but now it’s  _ especially  _ not.”

Nicole chuckled, reaching out for her hand. “C’mon, Speed Racer, let’s go find us a Mom-Mobile.”

They both climbed into the Tahoe and took off for the first of the two Calgary dealerships they were planning on going to.

“Are you sure the Jeep’s gonna be ok in the garage?” Waverly asked in a mumble after a minute, knowing Nicole had planned on keeping it there for storage since Waverly was going to start primarily driving the new car. 

Nicole looked towards her with a cocked brow. "Yeah, why wouldn't it be?" 

"I dunno." 

Nicole sighed, moving her hand to her thigh and giving it a squeeze. "I’m moving the Harley back behind the Corvette and the Lambo. The Jeep’s got enough room to fit right in there, I already measured it out . . . All of them have been fine as long as they’ve been in there, you know that. Ain’t nothing gonna happen to your baby.” 

Waverly let out a heavy sigh, sliding her hand over Nicole’s and rolling her thumb across her knuckles before slowly tracing one of her scars with it. “Alright.” 

Nicole looked towards her, giving her a little smile before looking back towards the road and relaxing back in her seat. “So . . . What else do we have to do next week? I feel like we’ve got a lot going on.” 

“We’ve got the gender reveal tomorrow, so we’ve gotta finish cleaning the house tonight after we get home.”

_ “No,” _ Nicole whined. “It’s not  _ that  _ dirty.”

“Nicole, we’re cleaning the house,” Waverly grumbled. “It’s not  _ dirty, _ but we need to still.”

Nicole groaned in disapproval. “Fine.” 

“Jessie said she’s gonna be over at, like, nine to start decorating and stuff. She’s making us leave, so we’ve gotta go find something else to do.”

“Can’t I just go work on the porch and stuff? I won't even be inside.” 

“Then what am I gonna do?” Waverly asked with a huff. 

“You can just go work on the nursery,” she shrugged. “You’ve got enough stuff you can do up there, right?” 

“I dunno, do I?” she asked with a little smirk. 

Nicole looked towards her with a clenched jaw, and Waverly  _ knew  _ how hard it had been for her to stay not knowing what was going on up there. “Can you at least tell me why I came home to Doc throwing a million boxes in Wynonna’s truck bed last night?”

“We got some deliveries, and I didn’t want you seeing the empty boxes since they had the pictures of the stuff on them,” she said with a shrug.

“Like what stuff?”

“Cribs, car seats, stroller, baby rocker seat things.” 

“Why can’t I see some of them?” Nicole asked with a whine. “Those aren’t all parts of the room.” 

“You can see them after the party tomorrow when I bring them downstairs. I don’t want people seeing that there’s two yet, so I guess that means you’re just gonna suffer.”

Nicole pursed her lips. “You’re mean.” 

“I know I am,” Waverly said with a cheeky smile.  _ “Anyway.”  _

“Anyway,” Nicole echoed. “What else next week?” 

“You’ve gotta call the doctor and get them to get you your meds early ‘cause you’re gonna run out while we’re not here.” 

“How do you know?” she asked with a raised brow.

“‘Cause I  _ looked,”  _ she answered with a laugh. “We need to pack at least by Thursday, and I guess I’ll get Gus to come by and load the bags in her car sometime Friday that way we can head to the airport right after I get off work.”

Nicole nodded, grinning wide at the thought. “I keep forgetting we’re gonna be in Greece this time next week.”

“I know, right?” 

Waverly happy clapped. “Oh my  _ God,  _ I’m so excited.” 

“I feel like you’re more excited for the layover than the wedding,” Nicole said with a chuckle, and Waverly smacked her arm with a shake of her head. 

Their three day trip to Greece for Del and Nevaeh’s wedding had been in planning for some time now, but they were pretty excited about it now that they were sure that they were actually going to be able to go. For a while, they weren’t sure if they would because of everything going on with Waverly, but she was sure that she would be fine, so they were all set. After their honeymoon and meeting them in Greece, they had seen them twice, but of course they talked a lot over the phone, too. They had seen each other during the summer that they had flown there for vacation, and then once when Del and Nevaeh had come to Canada to see them. When they had gotten the wedding invitations a few months back, they were of course very open to the idea of going despite the fact that it was on the other side of the world. 

And although Waverly and Nicole had a  _ love  _ for Athens, there  _ was  _ a small part of Waverly that was super excited about their five-hour layover in Amsterdam. Their other flight from Calgary to Athens had a layover in Paris, so it hadn’t been as exciting since they had already been once. Now, though, they were stopping in a place neither of them had never been before  _ and  _ they had enough time to squeeze in some exploring while they were there. 

It was certainly going to be quite the winter adventure for the two. 

“I want coffee,” Nicole mumbled.

“Then why didn’t you get some before we left?” Waverly asked with a hitched brow. 

“‘Cause that’s boring coffee. I want, like, Starbucks.”

“You don’t need Starbucks,” Waverly sighed. “$8 for a coffee is bullcrap.” 

“It’s good, though,” Nicole mumbled. “I’ll find one to stop at, don’t you worry.”

“No, you won’t,” Waverly grumbled. “If you want a coffee that bad, stop at a gas station or something.”

“But-”

“No, I’m gonna start teaching you how to save money. Step one _ , cheap coffee.”  _

Nicole pursed her lips, leaning her head back against the headrest. “Step one for Waverly, don’t buy  _ every single pet toy _ you see when you go to the store, we have enough at home.” 

“Oh, you wanna go there?” 

“I  _ do  _ wanna go there.”

Waverly crossed her arms. “Alright, let’s see. Step two for Nicole . . . Learn how to cook foods that don’t have an instructions panel right on the back so you don’t have to eat out as much.” 

“I can  _ cook,”  _ she argued. 

Waverly threw her a look. “Can you cook a  _ full meal  _ that doesn’t consist of 75% box or frozen food?” 

“Sure, I can,” she huffed. “. . . If I look it up, yeah.” 

_ “Mhm.”  _

“What’s wrong with that?!”

“Nothing’s wrong with that,” Waverly answered with a shake of her head. “. . . I’m just saying that you’re too  _ lazy  _ to look up a recipe, so you just like to take the easy way out with it.” 

“Baby, ya know, I’m  _ happy  _ living off of ramen and pizza rolls and the occasional frozen healthy meal package things. That works for me.”

“So you’re gonna feed the twins chicken nuggets and mac ‘n cheese for dinner every night when they get older?” 

She threw Waverly a look. “Not  _ every night  _ . . . Monday is pizza, Tuesday is Taco Tuesday, Wednesday is grilled cheese and tomato soup, Thursday is leftovers, and Friday is spaghetti. Boom. Done.”

“Absolutely not.”

Nicole moved her hand back onto Waverly’s thigh and gave it a squeeze. “Ok, Wave, look. Sure, I can make food if I try hard enough. Is it gonna be five-star restaurant quality?  _ Definitely  _ not. But I can make food. You can  _ also  _ make food, and when you make food, it’s  _ actual  _ food. So how about we just stick with you making the  _ actual  _ food, and I’ll stick with making the food on days that you don’t wanna cook  _ actual  _ food.” 

Waverly let out a dramatic groan as she pulled her foot up and tucked it under her other knee. “Fine. You still have to help sometimes, though.” 

“Of course,” Nicole said with a smile. “I’ll be your personal taste tester.” 

“Nic!” Waverly whined. 

Nicole chuckled with a shake of her head. “I’m kidding. I’ll help.” 

“Yeah, you better, or I’m gonna start feeding you baby food every night for the rest of your life.” 

Nicole gasped dramatically as she looked towards her. “You would  _ never.”  _

“Oh, yes, I will.” 

Nicole pouted her lip at her. “. . . Can you at least make the spoon an airplane before you feed me?”

_ “Oh my god.”  _

**3:47 PM**

_ “Damn,  _ Shawty, nice car." 

Waverly looked towards Nicole with a smile and a roll of her eyes, pushing off from leaning against the side of the new car where she was pumping gas into it. "I know, right?" 

Nicole hummed with a chuckle, dropping her hand to her hip and leaning down into a kiss. "Here." 

Waverly grabbed the bag in her hand with an excited giggle, quickly looking down at the powdered donuts and bottle of Nesquik double chocolate milk in it. "Thank you, Love." 

"Anything for my babies,” she mumbled, pressing another kiss to her lips as she dropped her hand to her stomach.

Waverly smiled, pulling back after a few seconds and tapping her shoulder. “Alright, let’s not get hate crimed.” 

Nicole snorted, stepping back from her and taking a sip of her  _ cheap gas station coffee.  _ She looked back towards the new car as Waverly turned to pull the pump out of it. There was a small smirk on her face as she continued to look it over. 

After a lot of contemplation after they had test drove both of their options, Waverly had decided on getting the Hyundai Palisade, and Nicole couldn’t be happier about it. She hadn’t said it, but the specs on the Subaru were just not anywhere even  _ close  _ to what the price of it was. And not only was the Hyundai cheaper anyway, but Nicole liked the exterior build of it better. 

Of the options of the Palisade, there had been a few different colors, but they had ended up going with the  _ moonlight cloud  _ or whatever, which was just a dark blue. Nicole hadn’t really been picky, so when Waverly offered to let her pick, she had just said any of them but the white one. 

They were both  _ more  _ than happy about the car and the deal that they had gotten on it, so that was really all that mattered in the end. 

“You ready?” Waverly questioned, pulling Nicole out of her focus on it.

She looked towards her, glancing down at the bag in her hand. “I mean, we can pull up to the front and chill for a bit if you want so the Haught Pockets can get some goodies.”

Waverly nodded with a smile, so Nicole walked around and hopped into the passenger’s seat and Waverly pulled forward to park in a parking spot in front of the gas station. “God, that’s the only thing I hate about this car,” Waverly mumbled as she poked the park button. “Why’s there gotta be no gear shifter?”

“I dunno,” Nicole sighed as she pushed the cover of the cup holder out of the way and set her coffee down. “Let’s set stuff up.” 

Waverly watched as Nicole poked around on the display screen and changed a few of the settings. They had already done a quick look-through at the dealership, but she was really looking through every nook and cranny now. 

“What’s this do?” Nicole mumbled before pushing one of the light buttons. The light color in the car changed to the blue she had clicked, and they both looked up at the ceiling where the lights were.

“Woah,” Waverly mumbled. “That’s cool.”

“We can have our own little disco party,” she said with a grin as she started spamming all of the different buttons for the colors at once. 

Waverly giggled and stopped her hand pre-shoving a donut into her mouth. “That’s trippy.” 

“I love it,” Nicole said with a grin as she put it on white and continued looking through the features. “Passenger talk . . .” Her eyes widened, and she grinned as she pressed the button. “I can yell at Wynonna from  _ all  _ the way up here when she’s trying to drink in the back.” 

Waverly’s brows raised when she heard that her voice got picked up through the microphone on the steering wheel and sounded through the back speakers in the car. “Or we can yell at our annoying fighting children.” 

“We’ll definitely need that option for sure,” Nicole sighed, scrolling again and clicking the sounds of nature button. “Look, it’s like a magical baby calmer.” She pressed the rainy day option, and rain sounds played softly through the speakers. 

“Aw,” Waverly cooed. “That’ll be good for, like, long drives and stuff.”

“Definitely,” Nicole agreed. 

Nicole finished going through everything, and she also got both of their phones connected to the car. She set Waverly’s down on the wireless charger in the space next to the cup holders, looking up at her with a little laugh as she watched her chugging down the chocolate milk. “That good, huh?” 

Waverly looked towards her with a crooked grin, nodding as she capped the bottle and tossed it in the empty plastic bag at Nicole’s feet. “Yeah.” 

Nicole wiped her mouth off with a napkin before dropping it into the bag. “Thought so, Miss Milk Moustache.” 

Waverly leaned back in her seat with a hum, looking down and pulling her shirt up. She reached out and grabbed Nicole’s hand, placing it on her stomach. “They’re wigglin’.” 

“They’re sayin’ god damn, Mommy, you ain’t  _ never  _ ate as much as you’ve been lately.”

Waverly giggled with a nod, knowing she was downing a snack or a meal every three to four hours these days usually with no problems. She was still always taking her nausea medicine like she should, but she was hoping and praying that this meant her HG was  _ finally  _ subsiding. 

And  _ because  _ she had been eating pretty much at the regular rate most mothers were now for the past week or so, she was quickly gaining her weight back, and she couldn’t be happier about it. 

Nicole met her eyes with a little smile, gently rubbing her thumb across her skin. “You think we should head home now?”

Waverly sighed with a nod. “I guess so. We’ve got stuff to do.”

“Alright.” Nicole leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her stomach. “Bye, Haught Pockets.” She sat up and pressed a kiss to Waverly’s lips. “Bye, Baby.”

Waverly smiled, giving her hand on the console a squeeze. “Bye.”

Nicole pushed open her car door and stepped out, grabbing the bag of trash on the floor. “You might get home before me.”

“Why?” Waverly questioned. 

“‘Cause I’ve got some stuff I need to get from the store. I’m cooking you dinner to prove I  _ can  _ cook.” 

“Oh good  _ lord,”  _ Waverly grumbled with a roll of her eyes. 

Nicole dropped her hand to the top of the car door. “Your taste buds are gonna  _ love  _ me, trust me.”

“Mhm, I bet.”

“Mhm, they will. Just you wait.” 

“M’kay, Chef Haught. Go on before I go Gordon Ramsey on your ass.” 

“Yes, Chef,” Nicole said through a smirk before shooting her a wink as she shut the car door.

Waverly let out a heavy sigh, gripping both hands on the steering wheel as she watched her throw the bag away in the trashcan by the entrance of the gas station before climbing into her Tahoe. She shook her head with a small smile on her lips, pressing the reverse button on the car and backing out of her parking space.  _ “That woman,  _ I swear to god.” 

**Sunday, January 24th, 2021 12:31 PM**

Nicole nailed the last nail through the side of the porch steps to secure it to the framing, and she stood up straight after setting the gun down. “Ok,” she breathed out, testing it out by slowly walking up the steps up onto the porch. “Hell yeah.” She stepped down onto the first step and jumped up and down a few times, grinning when she knew that it was stable. 

“Haught.” 

Nicole turned around, giving Jessie a smile when she saw her walking up from the side of the house. “Hey.” 

“I think everything’s ready.”

Nicole grinned with a raise of her brows. “Can we see it now?” 

“Yeah, but you both need to see it at the same time. C’mon.”

“We can go in this way,” Nicole said as she nodded towards the door on the porch that led inside.

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah.” Jessie walked up the porch steps, and Nicole smiled as she watched her look around. “You think she’ll like it?”

“Dude, I know she will,” Jessie assured as she met her eyes. “How much more stuff do you have to do?”

“Well, I need to sand everything still. Then I’ve gotta wait for a day where it’s above freezing at night so I can put the stain on, and then if I don’t need another coat, I’ve just gotta do the electrical shit and then decorate.”

“Damn,” Jessie said with a nod. “What color stain are you doing?” 

“You’re just gonna have to wait and see, ain’t ya?” she mumbled with a little grin.

Jessie rolled her eyes in annoyance. “I’m not gonna tell her.”

“Sure, you won’t,” Nicole grumbled with a knowing look.

_ “Whatever.”  _ She grabbed Nicole’s hands and covered them over her eyes. “No peeking.”

“I won’t.” 

“M’kay.” Jessie grabbed onto her arms and turned her around, walking her towards the door. 

“So you really know what they both are?”

“I’m the one that planned the party, aren’t I?” 

“Can you tell me? I’ll give you a dollar.”

“Would you like Waverly to  _ curb stomp  _ me?” Jessie asked with a huff as she slid the door open and led Nicole through the curtains that covered the sliding glass door.

“Not preferably, no.”

“Didn’t think so.” She stopped Nicole at the bottom of the steps.  _ “No  _ peeking. I’m getting Waverly from upstairs.”

_ “Fine,”  _ Nicole sighed.

Jessie turned and jogged up the stairs, tapping her fist on the nursery door. “Wave.” 

Waverly opened the door with a smile. “Are you done?” 

“I am, let’s go.”

Waverly squealed with a clap, stepping out of the room and starting for the stairs. “Yay!”

“Ah!” Jessie grabbed her arm and yanked her back. “It’s a  _ surprise.”  _

“Jess,” Waverly groaned, but Jessie ignored her and moved her hands to cover her eyes. “Now don’t fall down the stairs.”

“I’m gonna kill you.” 

“I know you are,” Jessie sighed, giving her a nudge to get her to start walking. 

Waverly slowly began going down the stairs, having slid her hand over to cover both eyes so she could grab the stair rail with her other hand. She got to the bottom and felt a body, feeling around and recognizing it as Nicole. She gave her arm a squeeze as she fitted into her side. “Jessie tried to kill me.”

“Poor baby,” Nicole said with a pouted lip although she couldn’t see it, but Waverly could definitely  _ hear  _ the sarcasm dripping from her voice. 

“Ok, look,” Jessie said as she stepped back from the two. 

They both pulled their hands from their eyes and looked around the living room and kitchen with slow grins forming on each of their faces. 

“Woah,” Nicole said with a little laugh as she walked further into the living room. “This is sick.” 

The couple’s only request had been for the theme to break gender norms, and Jessie had come up with the perfect theme for the party. 

_ Fire and ice. _

Waverly walked towards the kitchen and reached up to touch the icicle balloons hanging from different parts of the kitchen, looking down at the walls at the flame balloons that came up onto them from the floor. There were also other red, orange, and yellow balloons regular balloon bundles for the fire and light blue, white, and silver bundles for ice.

“Jess, you get to plan every party we ever have from now on,” Nicole said as she ran her finger across the blue and white table cloth on the table set up in the living room by the right-most wall. 

“Is it really good?” Jessie asked with her hands clasped in front of her chest. 

“Yes!” they both answered at the same time.

Waverly walked over to her and wrapped her in a hug, rocking her from side to side. “Thank you, I love it.” 

Jessie smiled, rubbing her hand and up and down her back. “You’re welcome.” She pulled back from her, grabbing her wrist and pulling her over to the table Nicole was at. “You’ve got a thing to fill out.”

“What thing?” Waverly questioned, stopping in front of the table and looking at the small chalkboard that was propped up against the wall.  _ “Old Wives Tales?”  _

“Mhm.” Jessie handed her a piece of white chalk. “People are gonna come over here to get their voting party hats.” She pointed to the two sets of party hats, a paper with  _ Boy  _ written on it in front of the light blue party hats with snowflakes on them and  _ Girl  _ written in front of the black party hats with flames coming up from the bottom. “And you’re gonna fill this out to see if you can  _ influence  _ their thinking.”

“Ah,” Waverly said through a hum, grabbing the chalkboard and laying it down in front of her. “Let’s see.” 

All of the answers on the left were for boy and the ones on the right were for girl. The first one asked  _ calm or moody,  _ and Nicole ripped the chalk out of her hand and circled moody for her.

“Hey!” Waverly smacked her arm. 

“Don’t deny it,” she said as she shot her a knowing look.

Waverly pursed her lips, snatching the chalk back and reading the next one. “Nicole’s weight, increased or same?” She raised her brows with a smile as she drew a slow circle around increased.

_ “Ok,  _ hey,” she huffed. 

“Don’t deny it, Chunky Monkey.” Nicole crossed her arms with a purse of her lips, and Waverly giggled. “Ok, headaches, yes or no?  _ Yes.  _ Because of my wife.”

“You’re pushing it,” Nicole grumbled as Waverly circled yes. 

Waverly laughed, moving to the next one. “Morning sickness, no or yes?” She circled yes about eight times. “Sleeping on left or right side?” She looked up at Nicole with a raised brow. 

“Usually you’re facing me, so right.”

“‘Cause I love lookin’ at my baby sleep,” Waverly mumbled as she circled it. “Foot size, increase or same?” Waverly looked down at her feet before looking back up at Nicole. “I dunno, I still fit into all my shoes, right?”

“Yeah,” Nicole agreed. “You shove your cold ass feet against me in your sleep, but they ain’t any bigger than they were before.”

“Speaking of . . . Body temperature, cold or hot?” She laughed a little as she circled cold. “I think that’s just because I’ve always been cold, though.” 

“True, but you’ve always got blankets on these days. Usually you’d just attach yourself to me.”

“I still do that, too,” she mumbled with a little smile, looking down at the board. “Salty or sweet cravings?” She circled sweet with a sigh, knowing the donuts and chocolate milk from the day before weren’t the only sugar-filled foods she had been wanting. “Skin, clear or breakouts?” She shot her hand up and grabbed Nicole’s hand before she could even come  _ close  _ to poking the pimple on her cheek. “Don't.”

“You’re having a second puberty, it’s ok.”

“Shut it,” she grumbled. “Ok, skin feels dry or soft? I  _ never  _ have dry skin.” She circled soft with a grin. 

“Last two,” Nicole sighed, taking the chalk from her hand and lightly circling boy on the one that asked her prediction.

“You think it's both,” Waverly mumbled as she looked up at her with a cocked brow. 

“I thought it was a boy to begin with, though. I can’t go around saying  _ I think it’s both  _ to people when they don’t know it’s two.”

“Fair enough.” Waverly circled girl on her prediction and added up the totals, writing them at the bottom. “Lookie, four for boy, eight for girl.” 

“Interesting,” Nicole hummed, grabbing an ice party hat and snapping it onto her head. “I’m still holdin’ out for a little dude in the mix, though.” 

Waverly sighed, grabbing herself a fire hat. “And I’m holdin’ out for double the estrogen.” 

They waited out the remainder of the time before one, and people slowly started arriving at the house for the party. All of their favorite people were coming over, and they were excited to have everyone together. 

There was Wynonna, Alice, Michelle, Gus, Doc, Dolls, Chrissy, Perry, Nedley, Jeremy, Robin, Topher with Auggie, Julian, and Jessie of course.

Altogether, they had a pretty full house, so it truly felt like a proper party. 

Everyone was mingling and digging into the food that was laid out. There were bags of spicy chips and fire decorated cookies in one area and then blue and white rock candy and ice decorated cookies in the other.

“Babygirl, c’mere.”

Waverly looked towards Wynonna, and she pulled from her conversation with Dolls and Nicole to go over to her. “What?” 

“What is it?”

“What is what?” she questioned.

“The baby,” Wynonna huffed as she poked her stomach. 

“I don’t know! Why do you think we’re having this party?!”

“Wait, you really don’t know?” she asked with a raised brow.

“No!” 

“Oh,” she mumbled. “Well, that’s lame.” 

Waverly rolled her eyes. “You can wait until the reveal part just like everyone else.” She flicked the ice hat on her head with a shake of her head. “And that’s when you can be proven wrong, too.”

“Oh, I’m definitely not wrong,” Wynonna assured, looking down at Alice at her feet who was wearing the same hat. “Right, Kid?” 

“Right what?” she questioned. 

“Just say right,” she grumbled.

Alice looked up and Waverly with a nod. “Right.” 

“You put that hat on her head to get her on your side, she didn’t pick,” Waverly grumbled. 

“No, I didn’t!” Wynonna defended. “She picked it.”

“Really?” Waverly questioned, leaning down towards Alice with a smile. “Hey, what do you think the baby in me is?”

“Girl!” she answered with a grin. “I wanna girl!” 

“Mhm, thought so.” Waverly stood up straight and picked Alice up. “Let’s go get you the right party hat.” 

“Not fair, Babygirl!” Wynonna whined. 

Doc draped his arm over Wynonna’s shoulders, and she looked up at him with a pout. “I, for one, am on your side,” he said with a smile as he adjusted the ice party hat on his head. 

“Where’s your yeehaw hat?” she questioned, having noticed that this was probably the first time she had seen him wearing a hat that was not his normal one. 

“I’m lettin’ the youngin’ over there have a go with it,” Doc answered, and Wynonna looked over to see Topher with Auggie on his shoulders, running around the coffee table in a gallop since Auggie was wearing the hat way too big for his head. 

“Well, that’s just  _ adorable,”  _ Wynonna mumbled, though the subtle hitch of her lip as she watched two people being happy told otherwise of her true thoughts on the situation. 

“Well, ya know what they say,” Doc sighed. “Every cowboy needs him a horse.” 

“Every cowgirl, too,” Wynonna said with a wink, giving his ass a smack as she walked past him. 

The attention in the room immediately went to Jessie when she let out a sharp two-fingered whistle. “Oh, wow, ok. That worked.” She cleared her throat. “Waves and Nic, come here.” Waverly set Alice down next to Michelle now that she had the correct party hat, and she followed Nicole over to where Jessie was near the kitchen. “Ok, so,” Jessie started, turning her attention back to the room. “We’re about to get this reveal started. Who’s ready?” A warcry of affirmatives sounded off, and the three laughed. “Thought so. Let’s do it!” Jessie looked towards Waverly and Nicole with a shitty grin before turning down the hallway and returning with a big cardboard box that had been in their room. The outside was painted with the theme and the front read  _ boy or girl  _ in the corresponding colors that they had been given for the party theme. 

“So red balloons is girl, blue balloons is boy, right?” Waverly asked as she looked towards Jessie with a hidden grin.

“Yep,” she confirmed. “Just pull that tape off and it’ll come open.”

“Awesome,” Nicole smiled, looking towards Waverly. “You wanna pull it or you want me to?” 

“Can we both?” she suggested.

Nicole shrugged with a nod, and they both hooked their fingers under the tape across the middle of the box that was holding the flaps shut. Waverly looked up at the sets of eyes filled with suspense that were on them, and she looked up at Nicole with a moon-eyed grin. 

Jessie held up a hand with a countdown, and the room sounded off the count.

_ “Three, two, one!”  _

They pulled the tape off and stepped back, looking towards the single balloon that floated out of the box.

A giant gold number two. 

_ “Oh my fucking god!”  _ Chrissy shrieked. 

_ “Two?!”  _ Michelle questioned with bulged eyes. 

“You  _ lying  _ motherfuckers!” Wynonna shouted as she stomped over to them and shoved Nicole. “You’re having  _ twins?!”  _

“We’re having  _ twins!” _ Nicole shouted back, and if the room wasn’t losing their shit before, they sure were now. 

Wynonna snatched them both up and crushed them in a hug as she scream-cried incoherent things into their shoulders. Waverly got yanked out of that hug and into another, and Michelle lifted her straight off the floor. “Angel!” She set her down and cupped her face. “I  _ knew  _ there was a reason you asked me about our family!”

Waverly giggled with a nod. “You’re all just as shocked as I was.” 

“Twins! Twins! Twins! Twins!” Nicole groaned and tried to wiggle out of Jeremy’s jumping hug as he shouted right in her ear. 

“I  _ know, _ it’s twins!” she said through a groan as she finally got out of it, but she was smothered again in an instant when Gus jumped her. 

It took a good 10 minutes for everyone to stop crying and screaming, but there were still some tears from a few-  _ from Wynonna-  _ when the house finally got quieter again. Nicole let out a breath as she chugged down some of the red punch from one of the drink containers, and she tossed the cup in the trash before finding Waverly again and heading towards the front of the room. “I think they’re done, yeah?” 

“Let’s hope so,” Waverly said through a breathy laugh.

Nicole chuckled, bringing her thumb and pointer finger into her mouth and blowing a whistle much like Jessie had earlier. “Ok, now that the cat’s out of the bag  _ finally-” _

“Yeah, you  _ assholes.  _ What else are you hiding?” Wynonna asked through a grumble.

“Dude, we didn’t know until, like, a  _ month  _ after we had already told you we were having a baby.” 

_ “Still!”  _

“Whatever-  _ Anyway.”  _ Nicole let out a breath with a shake of her head. “I, uh, I actually wasn’t there when Waves found out ‘cause of work stuff, so that was pretty fun to find out  _ after  _ the fact. We both are, like, absolutely  _ thrilled  _ about it ‘cause how could you  _ not  _ be?”

“Yeah, for real,” Waverly said with a smile as she leaned into Nicole’s side. She looked up at her with a swallow, and Nicole gave her an assuring smile when she wrapped her arm around her middle with a squeeze. Waverly looked back out at everybody. “But, uh. The same day we learned it was twins, we learned that, uh- that one of them’s got a mild heart condition.” Quiet rolled over the room, and Waverly waved her hand a bit. “It’s, like, really complicated and confusing, so I’m not gonna get into it, but as of right now, they’re both fine and healthy. So . . . I dunno, just good vibes and happy thoughts, that’s all we want now that you’re all kinda in the loop with it.” 

Nicole nodded in agreement. “It took us a bit to comprehend it, but we know there’s no point in stressing over it since there’s nothing we can do about it right now. So we don’t want y’all flipping your shit either. We’re just telling you all now ‘cause . . . well, it’s easier than having to explain it a million times, I guess.”

“So you said they’re both healthy, right?” Gus questioned. 

“Yup,” Waverly confirmed. “We’re constantly monitoring Baby B’s heart with a little machine thing, and we haven’t noticed any changes.”

It seemed everyone was swallowing down the emotional whiplash, so Nicole decided why not add another layer onto it. “How about we figure out what the hell is in my wife now, aye?” 

_ “Waitwaitwait- _ hold up,” Wynonna said as she put her hands up. “What do you guys think it is?” 

“Girls,” Waverly answered, narrowing her eyes teasingly as she looked towards Nicole. 

“Both,” she answered with a wiggle of her brows. 

“M’kay.” Wynonna walked over to the table with party hats and grabbed another ice one, moving the one she had on to the side and strapping the other one on. “If neither of you are right, at least I will be,” she said with a grin.

Jessie turned and headed back down the hall towards their bedroom. “Everyone go outside, I’ll be there with the stuff in a second.” 

Waverly looked towards Nicole with a raise of her brow in question of what she had gotten for the reveal, and they led everyone out to the front yard. Jessie came out a minute or so later, and a face-splitting grin took over the second Nicole saw one of the things in her hands.

A baseball bat. 

“Ok, so my creativity took a dive, and I couldn’t think of anything to go with the theme that didn’t actually involve  _ fire,  _ ya know, ‘cause I ain’t setting anything on fire for  _ no  _ reason. I  _ do  _ know y’all have a thing for baseball, though. Nicole does at least, Waves, you just smile and nod when she talks about it to make it look like you care.” 

She let out a snort, and Nicole bumped her with her hip. Jessie laughed a little, handing the bat over to Nicole.  _ “So.  _ Wave, you’re gonna throw the powder ball thing, Nic you’re gonna whack it, and  _ boom,  _ color for the baby.” 

“What if she misses?” Waverly questioned. 

Nicole let out an offended gasp. “I  _ never  _ miss.” 

“With my throwing, you might,” Waverly mumbled. 

“Here.” Jessie handed her a ball. “This one is just white powder. Do a practice throw.”

_ “Ook,”  _ Waverly sighed, walking a couple of yards away from her. “Ready?”

Nicole swung it around a few times before hitching it to her shoulder. “Hell yeah.” 

Waverly let out a breath before tossing it to her underhand. Nicole swung at it, and a puff of white filled the air around her when she hit it.  _ “Dude!”  _ Nicole stepped out of it so she wasn’t straight up eating it, and Waverly giggled at the excited crooked smile on her face. “That’s so cool!” 

Waverly did grabby hands for the first real reveal, and Jessie handed it over to her. She looked down at the fake baseball that had a big  _ A  _ sharpied onto it. “The place only had blue and pink, so it’s those colors for whatever it is.”

“Fair enough.” Waverly backed up back to where she had been before, bouncing her knees a few times. “I’m nervous!” 

“Just throw it, Baby. It’s ok,” Nicole assured with a little smile as she hitched the bat to her shoulder again. 

Waverly let out a breath with a nod, repositioning the ball in her hand before pulling back and tossing it towards her. She held her breath as her eyes followed the ball as it moved towards Nicole, and her hands covered her mouth right before she swung and nailed it in preparation for whatever color was gonna fill the air.

_ Pink  _

Nicole dropped the bat and shot her arms in the air with a  _ massive  _ grin, and Waverly jumped up and down a few times before running over to her. Nicole wrapped her in a hug when she crashed into her and walked her in a circle as she squealed incoherent things into her chest almost as loud as the squealing coming from the women around them. 

“We’re havin’ a princess,” Nicole mumbled after pressing her face into the top of her head. 

Waverly looked up at her with a beaming smile, and Nicole leaned down into a quick kiss. “She’s gonna be your lil’ sweetheart, I know it already.” 

Nicole grinned with a small blush, wiping the single tear from Waverly’s face. “Next one, c’mon.” 

Waverly pulled away from Nicole and grabbed the ball from Jessie that had the  _ B  _ for Baby B on it. Nicole grabbed the bat off the ground and got ready, and Waverly let out a slow breath, raising her brows when the people around her sounded off with a  _ three, two, one  _ countdown. She tossed the ball towards her wife and let her hands fall to press against her knees as she watched her swing at it, dropping her head with a breathy laugh when she saw the color explosion. 

_ Blue  _

_ “YES!”  _ Nicole shouted as she chucked her bat into the air. “I  _ knew  _ it!” She ran over to Waverly and scooped her into her arms, and Waverly brought her legs up to wrap around her waist with a giggle as she walked forward a few more steps. 

Waverly squeezed her legs tighter around her and grabbed her face to get her to look at her. “A little boy,” she whispered with teary eyes.

“We got the full package,” Nicole said with a soft smile.

Waverly wiped the tears from her face, pushing her lashes up. “You were right.”

“Mother’s intuition,” she said with a smirk as she tapped her temple. 

Waverly rolled her eyes, leaning into a kiss. “I love you.” 

“I love you, too,” Nicole mumbled before setting her down. “I get to see what you look like in dude form.” 

“Oh god,” Waverly giggled, looking out as their family and friends started for them. “That’s if either of them even look like me.” 

“We got them strong ass genes, Babygirl. Trust me, they will.” Wynonna grabbed her shoulders from behind her. “Look at Ali, she looks just like me.”

Waverly smiled, dotting her eyes around the yard in search for her. “Where’s she at?” 

“Doc took her inside,” Wynonna said with a heavy sigh. “We explained to her what twins meant, and now she’s having a mental breakdown ‘cause she wants one.”

Nicole let out a snort, leaning towards them after pulling out of a hug from Nedley. “You and Doc better get on that.”

She sharply shook her head.  _ “Nope.  _ She can deal. We double up these days.”

“Aw, Nonna, c’mon. If you got pregnant now, our babies and yours’ would only be a few months apart,” Waverly whined.

“You wanna take care of  _ three  _ babies and a preschooler on nights you guys are babysitting?” she asked with a cocked brow and a hitched lip. 

The smiles slowly fell from both of their faces, and Nicole shook her head. “Ya know what, nevermind.”

“Mhm, thought so.” Wynonna turned at the sound of Doc’s exhausted voice calling her from the porch. She headed towards him with a whiny groan, and Waverly and Nicole both shook their heads at her. 

Waverly pulled Nicole in front of her, sliding her hands down the sides of her opened flannel as she looked up at her with a soft smile. “What?” Nicole questioned.

Waverly pulled her closer with a hum. “Thank you.” 

“For what?”

Waverly shrugged. “Just . . . for everything.” 

Nicole smiled, pressing a kiss to her lips. “Well, thank you.” 

“For what?” 

“For making my two new favorite people in the whole wide world,” she mumbled as she slipped her arms around her body. 

“Aw,” Waverly said with a happy pout. “15 more weeks, Baby.”

“Ish,” Nicole added.

Waverly giggled with a nod, pulling her down into a kiss. _ “15-ish _ weeks, that’s better.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)))))))  
> Fun fact, I chose what the babies were gonna be with a wheel spinner cuz I couldn't decide on my own lmao
> 
> Edit: OMG GO CHECK OUT MY NEW TATTOO SHOP AU ONESHOT JAWBREAKER IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/29235066


End file.
